The Price of Glory
by Individual-9086
Summary: If you enjoy this story, look for updates under it's new title, LIVING IN LEGEND.
1. A Bludger Surprise

"I know you don't want to James, but I think it's best," Martha Potter explained uncomfortably. She was having second thoughts about sending her only living son away.  
  
  
  
James did not respond. He stared dejectedly out the window of the sedan. Sirius had never seen him so glum.  
  
"James, you know I don't want to do this, but your father and I feel it's best. After what happened to your brother, you know that our family are targets. Your father being an auror and all. It's so hard for me to do this, but I love you too much to let you remain with us when you might be in danger."  
  
Sirius thought he understood now. He wondered if it was really a good idea for him to be going to James's new home along with him. Martha had invited him along, mostly to make James feel more comfortable at his grandmothers. She thought that the transition would be easier if Sirius came along.  
  
Sirius and James had been friends for all of their lives, and Sirius was practically a member of the Potter family. Sirius spent as much time as possible with the Potters, as his own home life was less than desirable. Any decision involving James automatically effected Sirius as well.  
  
When Martha had announced that James would be staying with his Grandmother, Sirius had been almost as shocked as James. He would miss both of James's parents almost as much as James would.  
  
The sedan suddenly took a sharp corner and Sirius hit his head against the window. James laughed briefly and then once again turned to his uncharacteristic, gloomy state.   
  
James's whole family were wizards and witches, yet Sirius knew why Martha had opted for the Sedan, instead of simply traveling by floo powder. Such a major transition was hard to accomplish by simply stepping through a fireplace. Somehow the long car ride made it feel much more final.  
  
Eventually the car turned off the main road, onto a quaint little drive. Martha slowed down and consulted a sheet of paper, containing directions.  
  
The street was nice, covered in tall green trees, and blossoming tulips. The small neighborhood contrasted deeply with bustling London, where Sirius had grown up.  
  
"This is so far away from Sirius's house," James moaned.  
  
"Don't be silly dear," Martha responded with a fake smile, "your grandmother is connected to the Floo network, Sirius can stop by anytime."  
  
James rolled his eyes and hit his head against the window.  
  
"It's very nice here," Sirius intercepted, trying to ease a bit of the tension. "I bet we can find a good place to play Quidditch."  
  
James instantly perked up, the gleam returning to his dark eyes. "You think?"  
  
Martha spoke quickly, "Of course dears. Your grandmother has a nice backyard, and nobody can see through, it is shaded in trees. It's rather small of course, but I'm sure it will do."  
  
"It's probably too small then," James prophesized drearily.  
  
But before Sirius could assure him that they would find a place, the sedan pulled into the driveway of small yet cozy house. A small garden decorated the front lawn and several sparrows chirped and splashed in a wooden bird bath. The house was surrounded by a chipped white picket fence, and sunlight streamed down through the green grass.  
  
Sirius leaped out of the car boldly, slamming the door behind him.  
  
James got out next, a bit more reluctantly, and Martha hesitated, choking back a sob.  
  
"This is it boys, this is your new home James," she said shakily.  
  
Before Sirius could knock on the door, it swung open to reveal an elderly woman in a stiffly pressed grey dress. The collar was buttoned up to her neck, and she wore dark stockings and shiny black shoes. Her grey hair was pulled back into a tight bun. The woman did not smile, but neither did she frown, a stiff line remaining constant on her wrinkled face. She seemed immaculate and formal, completely alien to the cozy yard.  
  
She greeted them with a brief nod, and walked inside with out a word, assuming they would follow her.  
  
James quickly assumed a bored expression, as if he didn't care that he would be living with this woman for the rest of the summer and possibly every summer until he graduated from Hogwarts.  
  
The inside of the house, like the woman was cold and immaculate. None of the warmth which decorated the outside of the house was apparent on the inside. The furniture was sparse and strictly functional, no pictures or paintings were in sight on the walls.  
  
The woman sat down at a bare table, and folded her hands across her lap placidly. She did not speak until they were all seated in the uncomfortable wooden chairs.  
  
"Hello James. I am Cornelia Morgana Potter. You may call me Cornelia," the old woman said coldly. "I will have you know right away that I will not put up with nonsense of any sort. You are to be up at dawn. After you have eaten breakfast you will do your chores. Then you may play outside. At seven o'clock you shall attend your studies and at nine you will go to bed. Any questions?"  
  
"I go to bed at eleven in the summer," James protested.  
  
  
  
"Not in my house you won't," Cornelia insisted with a glare.  
  
"Don't worry James, we'll find a way," Sirius reassured him.  
  
"You will do no such thing," she hissed, turning her glare to Sirius.  
  
Finally, Martha took James aside and hugged him. "Cornelia is a harsh woman, but she is fair. If you obey her I am sure that the two of you will get along just fine."  
  
James squirmed.  
  
"I do love you darling. It breaks my heart to leave you here. . .but it is best. Good bye James. Be good," Aurelia whispered, planting a kiss on Sirius's cheek before she turned to leave. "I know we will keep in touch throughout the summer. While Cornelia will not tolerate my visiting to often, I have acquired other friends in the area."  
  
Before James had a chance to wonder what she meant, Martha Potter was gone.  
  
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The backyard was very nice, but too small to play Quidditch in. The boys tried to fly around a bit, but their was not enough room for the two of them, although tall trees shaded them from unfriendly muggle eyes.  
  
Just when the two boys were about to give up on ever playing Quidditch again, Sirius got a glimpse of what lay beyond a grove of tall Maples which separated Cornelia's backyard from that of the neighbors.  
  
"James!" Sirius called excitedly. "Take a look at this!"  
  
Within seconds of peering through the trees, James became every bit as excited as Sirius. The neighbor's yard was huge, a grassy Quidditch paradise, shaded by the same tall trees which covered Cornelia's backyard.  
  
"We can't possibly," James warned quietly. "What if we got caught? They might be muggles!"  
  
"Oh it's simple James. We can't get caught if they are not home. If they are muggles, they will have cars parked in front of their house. I can go check. If there are cars we will have to wait, but if they are none, we have found our new Quidditch field!"  
  
James waited anxiously, while Sirius sneaked around front to survey the area. Moments later, Sirius ran back.  
  
"The coast is clear James! Hurray! We got us a Quidditch field," Sirius shouted excitedly.  
  
Moments later, their worries abandoned, the two boys were soaring above Cornelia's neighbor's yard.   
  
"If we are going to be beaters next year James, we really should practice with the bludgers. We can play that game we made up last year! Hit a bludger back and forth until someone falls of his broom!"  
  
An hour later the boys were still in good spirits. The score was 2 to 3. Sirius had been knocked off twice, and James had the three falls.  
  
In an effort to even the score, James got in a particularly good hit, sending the bludger flying violently towards Sirius, who had to back up rapidly in time to swing at the flying ball. He hit it, but at the same time he crashed through a window of the neighbor's house and fell amid piles of broken glass onto the floor of somebody's living room.   
  
Unfortunately, that someone was standing right behind the fallen Sirius. That somebody was Lily Evans.  
  
James swooped in through the shattered window upon his broom, at the same time as a blond girl, and a pudgy boy rushed into the living room. But his attention was quickly diverted to the two intruders. He didn't even notice his friend laying injured on the floor.  
  
"Lily!" he shouted almost accusingly.  
  
Lily's eyes widened and then narrowed into a very hateful look. The girl which James assumed was Lily's sister Petunia screamed and looked as if she was about to faint. Just then, the bludger plummeted through the open window, headed straight towards the pudgy boy's head.   
  
"Vernon!" Petunia screamed. Vernon quickly grabbed Petunia and thrust her in front of himself, as if to protect himself from the blow, but the bludger missed the two of them by inches. Instead it was headed straight for Lily.   
  
James jumped in front of the speeding bludger and swung at it just in time, sending it crashing through one of Lily's living room walls.  
  
At that point the boy whom Petunia had called Vernon went into a dead faint and landed on the floor with a loud plop. Petunia continued to scream and ran out of the room as if her hair was on fire.  
  
The bludger crashed through the wall again, creating another gaping hole and was headed for James's head.  
  
James leaped up and wrestled the troublesome bludger to the ground, finally managing to restrain it. As soon as the bludger was taken care of, James turned to help Sirius, who was calmly dusting the glass off of his cloak when Lily came around from behind him and smacked him quite forcefully on the back of the head.  
  
James gulped and fell to his knees comically, rubbing his injured head with one palm. "Geez Lily! What did you do that for?"  
  
"You idiot! What are you doing here?" Lily screamed, her face almost as red as her hair.  
  
Just then, the sound of sirens began to fill the air and James squinted, puzzled at the strange wailing. "What is that?" he asked.   
  
"It's the police!" Lily rolled her eyes. "The muggle police! The neighbors must have called them after they heard the commotion. You guys are so dead!"  
  
"I am the neighbors, why would I call the police?" James asked, sounding a bit confused.  
  
"You are what?" Lily practically screamed.   
  
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It took hours to clear up the mess. Many Ministry of Magic officials had to come in and memory charms were performed on the muggle police, and the muggle neighbors who had called them. James was returned to his grandmother, and Sirius to his own parents.  
  
Petunia threw several fits, and Vernon left very quickly after he woke up, showing no signs that he wanted to come back again.  
  
But Lily's rage exceeded all of the other commotions. After telling James exactly how and when she wanted him to die, adding quite graphic details about the earlier, she slapped him twice and told Sirius simply to never come within the boundary of her property.  
  
Lily's parents were more understanding, although they were a bit angry at the two boys.  
  
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"I can't believe you're living next to Lily Evans," Sirius mused happily. James had convinced his grandmother to allow him to visit Sirius. It turned out that Cornelia was glad to be rid of him after the hyjinks he had pulled in his first week in her care.  
  
James grinned. "I don't think she likes it much."  
  
"Oh the fun we will have!" Sirius sighed. "Just think, a whole summer to pull pranks on her!"  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"I'm sorry Petunia! I didn't know they were going to crash through the window! I didn't even know they lived anywhere near us!" Lily apologized.  
  
The blond girl was not appeased. She reached forward and slapped Lily hard across the face. "You are a liar!"  
  
Lily kicked her hard in the shins and Petunia grasped a lock of Lily's hair and pulled as hard as she could. Lily groped wildly and finally her hand met a picture frame and she pulled it up and hit it against the side of Petunia's head.  
  
While Petunia was assessing the damage to her head, Lily took advantage of the moment to push her sister out of her room.  
  
When she turned back she noticed the picture frame she had used. It was the one that James had given her at the end of the year. Inside was a picture of the two of them, covered in grime and blood, after working with the Whomping Willow. Lily rolled her eyes at the photo, and rubbed her head where Petunia had pulled her hair. Petunia's wrath could easily be attributed to James and the wild crash through Lily's house. Petunia blamed it on Lily.  
  
Since the incident, Vernon, Petunia's boyfriend had made himself scarce. While he still went places with her, he refused to come within a hundred feet of her freak sister. Petunia blamed her freak sister as well.  
  
After Petunia left, Lily locked her door and collapsed onto her bed. She knew she was in for a terrible summer. 


	2. James Makes Himself At Home

Fortunately for Lily, James was not able to put his plans into action for several weeks. Cornelia had been scared off by Sirius's part in the Bludger incident and would not allow him to return to her house until James had finished a long list of chores. Cornelia was the one who ended up paying for the damage to the neighbor's home and she was none too happy about it.  
  
Still, Lily was in enough trouble as it was. Her parents, while not downright hostile, were a bit jumpy around her, and forbid her to have any friends over for the rest of the summer, by friends, meaning James and Sirius. When Lily insisted that the two boys were not her friends, and had not come by her invitation, her mother just shook her head and her father shrugged. They both had been favorably disposed towards James after he had rescued her at the end of the school year from death eaters, but were a bit annoyed with him after his latest stunt. Mostly, they just blamed Lily, and refused to believe that she had nothing to do with it.  
  
However it was not her parents who proved the real trouble. It was Petunia. Lily found herself subject to constant fits of anger, shouted insults and physical violence brought on by her older sister. Despite herself, Lily discovered that she was a bit afraid of Petunia, who would never let matters lie.  
  
More than she feared Petunia, she feared what misery James and Sirius would concoct and inflict upon her. She knew perfectly well what the terrible twosome was capable, and without Remus and Peter to balance them out, they could be downright dangerous, as they had proved when they had crashed through Lily's window.  
  
The damage to the window had been repaired, but there still remained two gigantic gaping holes in the dining room and living room walls. Every time Petunia walked by them, she went into another fit of despair, which ultimately would turn to anger, against her sister.  
  
Eventually Petunia's attacks subsided into her ordinary meanness and Lily spent as much time as possible in her room, reading her school books and writing letters to Brittany, Dora and Jackie. Although the girls had promised to keep in touch, Lily had not received one letter, though she had sent out quite a few.  
  
All in all she was not having the best summer of her life. Even her sleep was affected. She woke up every night, visions of death eaters and Voldemort fresh in her head. While she had been assured time and time again that she was safe now, by Dumbledore and her parents, Lily could not help seeing the worried glint in their eyes. Devin was still alive and free, and he had come after her once.  
  
The nightmares woke her every night, and afterwards she would lay awake and worry. James had explained to Dumbledore and their families how he had known the box was a port key. He had seen it in a dream. The whole concept seemed very fishy to Lily. For her dreams were just that, dreams. She wasn't sure if James had been telling the whole truth. Sometimes she wondered if he had some sort of inside information, or perhaps he was involved. Lily was much inclined to think this, she couldn't stand the thought of being in debt to him. James had saved her life, he was "a little hero" as her parents had proclaimed.  
  
Lily did not think James was "a little hero", but she did think he was "a little prick". Now that he was living next door to her, her worst fears were confirmed. This summer she would have to deal with not only Petunia, but also James and the rest of the Marauders.  
  
It was during one of her late night nightmares that James and Sirius decided to start their campaign to make her life miserable. Lily slept with her window open a crack, so it was easy for the two boys to pry it open enough to slip through several of Filibusters No Flame Indoor Firecrackers. Unfortunately for James and Sirius, the fuses which they had carefully tied together landed face down on the carpet and promptly went out.  
  
After a quick but furious fight over who would go in, James finally crawled through the window and landed as quietly as he could manage on Lily's bedroom floor. Carefully, he glanced at the sleeping redhead before bending over to light the fuse.  
  
Moments later, the room was filled with hissing shrieks and flying, non flammable magical balls. James did not have time to get back outside the window.  
  
Lily screamed and jumped out of bed in a panic, tearing a lamp off her nightstand and swinging it wildly at James's head.   
  
"Death Eaters!" Lily called desperately.  
  
James ducked, and the lamp barely missed him. Lily swung again and this time it collided with his head with a crash.   
  
"Lily!" Sirius called through the window, as Lily continued to beat James senseless with the lamp. "Calm down! It's just us!"  
  
Still, it took a while before the smoke cleared and Lily could see that it was indeed only the two boys.  
  
James, was lying unconscious on the floor with quite a welt spouting from his forehead.  
  
"Oh! I killed him!" Lily shrieked in horror. "I thought he was a death eater!"  
  
Sirius kicked James lightly and James let out a small moan and started to sit up. "Don't worry," Sirius said casually. "He's not dead."  
  
Before Lily had a chance to respond, Petunia was there. "LILY!" she screeched, and then dropped dead in her path at the sight of the two young wizards. It was obvious that Petunia was afraid of James and Sirius, and that was not unreasonable considering what the two boys had done in her presence. It was not unlikely that Petunia would not have lasting emotional damage from the horrors that James and Sirius had inflicted upon her.  
  
"ID Emmmmmm!" Petunia shrieked shrilly apparently at a loss for comprehensible words.   
  
The two boys giggled involuntarily. Petunia looked very interesting, to say the least. Her limp blond hair was done up in curlers and she was wearing a frilly pink nightgown. Worst of all her face was covered in green gunk, a facemask meant to clear up her acne. Finally Petunia screamed again and stormed out of the room in horror.  
  
"You look positively gorgeous Lily, next to your witch of a sister!" James laughed, rubbing his bleeding head tentatively.  
  
"Ooh," Sirius grinned, dancing in circles around James, "Someone thinks his future wife is gorgeous! See, Lily, Jamesie is fine. No need to worry."  
  
Lily's pale face was turning red. She leapt up on her bed and glared down at the two boys, "I don't know what inspired you to sneak into my room at night and set of fireworks, but you two have already caused enough damage! You should be expelled, no arrested! If you don't leave right now I will call the police!"   
  
At that moment, Lily's parents, Rebecca and Tom burst into the room. "What is the commotion?" Rebecca asked furiously. Then she spotted James. "Oh my dear boy! Whatever happened?"  
  
She rushed over to him quickly, wrapping an arm around Lily's arch-enemy as Tom rubbed his eyes sleepily in the doorway, too tired to fully comprehend the situation. It didn't seem the least odd to him that the two boys who had wrecked their living room were currently residing in Lily's bedroom..  
  
"It was Lily" James admitted in a tearful (and fake) voice. "She attacked me with a lamp."  
  
"HE BROKE INTO MY ROOM AND SET OFF FIREWORKS!" Lily shrieked, astonished at James's daring and her mother's unfair reaction.  
  
"I only wanted to say good night," James explained sadly, between pretend sobs.   
  
Rebecca glared up at her youngest daughter. "Lily, I'm sure James had his reasons. That was no excuse for hurting him. Shame on you!" She turned towards James with a tender expression. "Poor little James, should I take you to the doctor?" she asked worriedly.  
  
So Lily was forced to watch helplessly as her mother coddled James. The hatred that Lily had previously felt towards him was currently being multiplied by 100.   
  
"Tom, go and call the boy's grandmother and ask her if she minds if I drive him to the hospital. And while you are at it, get Sirius a cup of hot chocolate," Rebecca ordered stonily.  
  
  
  
Tom complied, content to take his wife's orders. James however, was not so eager.  
  
"I'm fine Mrs. Evans!" he insisted. "I don't need to go to the hospital, I feel great now." James did not really want to be fussed over at a hospital. If his mother was notified she was sure to make an even greater fuss than Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Nonsense. Sit down my dear and let me stop the bleeding," Rebecca ignored his protests. "Lily! Clean up this mess!"  
  
Sick with the injustice of it all, Lily resigned herself reluctantly to vacuuming up the last of the debris left from the Filibusters fireworks. She muttered to herself angrily as her mother escorted the two boys to the living room for bandages and hot cocoa. Lily was stuck cleaning up the mess. Finally, when her room was once more fairly clean, Lily stomped into the living room, intent on giving her mother a piece of her mind. However, she stopped short, deciding that it was wiser to hold her tongue.  
  
James and Sirius were still there, being coddled. James was shedding fake tears of dismay, "I just don't know why she hates me so much, Mrs. Evans. I only wanted to be her friend!" at this point, James shot Lily a vindictive look and buried his head in Mrs. Evan's pillow, erupting into violently fake sobs.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I'm sure Lily will apologize to you," Rebecca assured him, shooting her daughter a significant look.  
  
"I will not!" Lily called as calmly as she could manage under the circumstances.  
  
Rebecca stood, with all the menacing power of a mother. "Lily Maroon Evans, I am warning you!"  
  
"Maroon?" James snorted from beneath his teary façade. "That's your middle name."  
  
"MOTHER!" Lily cried in embarrassment, she couldn't stand the idea of anyone knowing her middle name, especially James.  
  
"APOLOGIZE!" Rebecca screamed back, every bit as fierce as her little red haired daughter.  
  
Lily's mother pushed her close to James, applying slight pressure on her arm. "Fine!" Lily hissed. "James I am sorry…" she blurted out.  
  
Instantly, her mother released her, content that her daughter had done her duty.   
  
"I'm sorry that you are such a jerk!" Lily screamed and took off running before her mother could reprimand her further.  
  
James watched her in amazement. He had really got to her. "See, I told you she hates me," he confessed once more to her mother.  
  
Though he was forced to be driven to the hospital by Lily's parents, with Sirius in tow, James felt that the evening had been very profitable. He kept up his act while the doctors examined his head, and on the car ride back. James felt that a friendship with Lily's parents could prove quite a tool to use against her. So he acted as whiny and pathetic as he could, and Rebecca simply fawned over him. By the time the night was over, James was assured that he had earned himself an invite back into the Evans home anytime he wished. He was determined to use this to his advantage. Lily Evans was in for a horrible summer. 


	3. Summer Correspondance

James and Sirius had obtained permission to use Lily's backyard for Quidditch, as long as they didn't break any more windows, from Rebecca Evans, and the two were taking full advantage of it. Petunia, as a result, spent as much time as possible away from her house. She was absolutely mortified at the things that were going on around her. Petunia spent as much time as possible at Vernon's house, confiding to him about what a FREAK her sister was.  
  
Vernon was the only one who understood her, Petunia thought. No one else could truly understand the extent of her sister's weirdness, or the trauma inflicted upon her by her sister's lot.James and Sirius were worse than Lily, in Petunia's eyes. The two boys had quickly become her worst nightmare.  
  
Lily shared her attitude, at least in part. While Lily had disliked James strongly during her first year at Hogwarts, she was now sure that she hated him! Whenever she tried to confide in her mother, Rebecca only responded with a patronizing, "he saved your life, dear! James is a dear boy and he is welcome to spend as much time in our home as he wants."  
  
James was certainly taking advantage of this. He ate out of Lily's fridge, used her bathroom, played Quidditch in her back yard and even invited over Sirius to join him. James seemed to dislike his grandmothers house, and spent as much time at Lily's as possible. He and Sirius even spent the night in the living room for a few nights.  
  
Lily finally exploded after she caught James using her toothbrush. "This is the last straw!" Lily screamed. "Get out of my house, now!"  
  
James only laughed, "Make me."  
  
Lily ran into her room and proceeded to cry into her pillow. Finally, she was withdrawn from her grievous state by her owl, Lothlorien. He carried with him a letter, from Brittany. Lily tore open the letter eagerly. She had been waiting forever to hear from her friends and this was the first letter she had gotten.  
  
  
  
Dear Lily,  
  
I hope you are having a good summer! Mine has been terribly boring so far. My grandmother hasn't let me write to you until now. She heard about what happened to you and thought you needed your rest. I know you are perfectly fine now, and I think it must have been awfully exciting! It was very heroic of James to have rescued you, Jackie thinks it was romantic as well. I wish we could visit each other, but my Grandmother will not allow it. Please write back right away and tell me everything that has happened!   
  
Love, Brittany  
  
The letter put Lily in a much better mood, although the part about James was sickening. Lily set out right away to start her letter.   
  
It was three pages in length by the time she was finished. Lily signed her name and folded the letter carefully, placing it in an envelope. Just as she was about to seal it, Sirius Black threw open the door to her room.  
  
Sirius was wearing stylish clothing and his hair was perfectly groomed. Sometimes Lily was amazed at how different he was from James, yet the two were like brothers.  
  
"Oh Lily," Sirius called cheerfully. "James decided to umm… experiment with one of your muggle cooking thingies, and well… it's not good. You better come look!"  
  
"What happened Sirius?" she hissed, standing immediately to follow Sirius into the kitchen at a run.  
  
When she entered the kitchen, Lily had to laugh. James's always messy hair was standing straight up and his face and clothing were lined in black soot. Around him were the remnants of what appeared to be the Evans's toaster.  
  
"What did you do?" Lily asked finally, when she could finally stop her bout of giggling.  
  
James shrugged. "I was trying to make toast," he replied, as if blowing up a toaster was a commonplace event which could happen to anyone.  
  
While Lily coerced Sirius into helping her clean up the kitchen, James made use of Lily's bathroom to clean himself off. Then, reluctant to take part in the cleaning of the kitchen, he took it upon himself to explore Lily's bedroom.  
  
He found the letter straight away. After reading through Brittany's letter and rereading the parts about himself happily he unfolded Lily's reply, intending to make a few revisions.  
  
Dear Brittany,  
  
  
  
My summer is going terribly! I cannot imagine anything worse could be happening to you. I miss you so much! You really should have written sooner.  
  
Petunia is being horrible, as usual, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. The nightmare started when James and Sirius crash landed through my living room window, complete with broomsticks and bludgers. They succeeded not only in ruining the living room, but breaking holes through two other walls as well! Petunia's boyfriend Vernon was there at the time, and he and Petunia will not let me forget it.   
  
Worst of all, James is living with his Grandmother, who happens to live next door to me! So the idiot himself has been at my house the entire summer. My mom loves him and makes me clean up after him! He stinks up the bathroom, eats all of our food and even uses my toothbrush! Sirius is also here as well, although he is not quite so bad as James. Still, two Marauders are more annoying than one.  
  
About what you said in your letter, James was not acting heroically. He probably just stumbled on the port key by mistake and mad up all of that stuff about dreams…  
  
Eventually, James got tired of reading the long letter, and crumpled it up in a ball, tossing it into the trash can. He knew it was up to him to write a reply. Lily obviously was in denial about him, James knew that she could not help but be in awe of his amazing good looks and talents.  
  
So, he started on his own version of Lily's letter, adopting his own unique style.  
  
To Brittany Jacobs,  
  
I am very busy or I would write you a longer letter. The reason I am busy is because James Potter suddenly moved in next door. He is so incredibly cool and I wish that I was as cool as him. You should really consider dating him or his friend Sirius. You are right, they are both very brave, but I don't know about romantic, that is a girly thing. Anyway I am so happy to have James in my house that I do not think you should write back to me because I am too busy fantasizing about him. Still, I know he would never stoop to my level. Currently I am off snogging my sister's ugly fat boyfriend Vernon, just to practice for James (even though he is too cool for me).   
  
From Lily Evans  
  
James sighed contentedly, assured that his letter was a great improvement. "Lily will thank me for this someday," he muttered under his breath while sealing the envelope which Lily had already addressed.  
  
Just then, Lily walked in. "What are you doing, James?" she asked in a cold voice.  
  
"Oh, just mailing your letter," James responded smoothly.  
  
Lily grabbed the letter out of his hands, glaring at him suspiciously. She examined the envelope and after noting that it was the one she had addressed, handed it to Lothlorien herself reluctantly.  
  
"Get out of my room!" she shouted, not for the first or last time.  
  
James grinned blowing her a fake kiss and dashed out of the room cheerfully. In James's mind, he had done his share of charity for the week. Revising Lily's letter was really a nice thing to do, or so he told himself.  
  
Later, when he shared the incident with Sirius, James was surprised at Sirius's laughter.  
  
"What?" James asked innocently. "I did do it to help her?"  
  
"James, my man," Sirius grinned, slapping his friend on the back, "You have a strange way of helping."  
  
The next few weeks were not nearly as much fun for James. Sirius's mother had appeared in person in Cornelia's fireplace, and ordered him to come home. James spent most of his time moping around the Evan's house. His grandmother was truly a formidable witch, and he tried his best to avoid her.   
  
Without Sirius, even the prospect of annoying Lily had lost some of it's fun. Finally, left her alone altogether, resigning himself to living under the house of his strict Grandmother.   
  
One day, Lily approached James furiously, having received a very strange reply from Brittany.  
  
Dear Lily,  
  
I don't know if you actually wrote a letter in reply to my last one, but I didn't get it. The reply I got was written as if it was from you, but it obviously wasn't. First clue, you seemed to be praising James. Second clue, it just didn't sound like you. And third, it was most definitely not in your handwriting. Just to check I am going to enclose a copy of the letter I received. Is it true that James is living next door to you? If it is, you might want to check for tampering. Anyway, I instructed my owl to make sure that YOU, and no one else, get this, so write back right away!  
  
Love from Brittany! XOXO  
  
"What is this about?" Lily screeched after shoving the letter towards James. "You re-wrote my letter!"  
  
James shrugged modestly. "Don't thank me, it was just one of my many selfless acts."  
  
Lily stepped forward and gave James a shove. James staggered back and his eyes widened in mock surprise.  
  
"I thought you would be pleased! Your letter was horribly written. I just made some simple corrections," James explained calmly.  
  
"You jerk!" Lily yelled. "I have put up with you in my house for too long. If you come back again I promise that you will be sorry!"  
  
"Sorry that you are such a loser, who can't write letters?" James asked innocently.  
  
Lily let out a frustrated shriek and ran off without further comment, lost for words. She ran down the street until she could calm herself enough to stop her feet. Letting out another scream, Lily took a swing at a brick wall and realized a few moments later that such a move was not really a very good idea.  
  
She screamed again upon impact, this time not out of frustration, but out of pain. Shooting stabs ran up her arm and Lily stared in shock at her mangled fist. She managed to calm herself when she flexed and saw that nothing was broken, though it was badly scraped, and summoned the strength to walk calmly back to her house to bandage her hand.  
  
James was sitting on her couch when she walked in the door. Lily avoided his gaze and tried her best to hide her injured hand from his view. The thought of his ridicule was too much to bear.  
  
Holding her breath, Lily walked past him as subtly as she could. When she made it to the bathroom she gasped in pain, trying to hold back the tears. The bones were not broken, but her entire fist ached horribly and the skin was raw and painful.  
  
James noticed something, he was not stupid, for all that he pretended to be. He waited a few moments, and then went after her, wanting to surprise her. James thought of a good taunt and then threw open the door.  
  
"Gonna make me pay?" he asked cheerfully. "It'll take more than a threat…" James trailed off suddenly, noticing the blood.  
  
James's mouth dropped and before Lily could retort, he was at her side. The transition was automatic, James did not even realize how quickly he reverted to protective mode.  
  
"Lily," he gasped. "What happened?" James put an arm around her shoulder and attempted to examine her hand.  
  
Shivering and looking faintly sick Lily shoved James away violently. "Go away!"  
  
James ignored her and proceeded to rummage through her cabinets until he managed to surface a first aid kit. Lily tried to fight him off, but James forcibly rinsed the blood off of her hand, checked for broken bones and bandaged it.  
  
Lily examined the bandage skeptically. It was more a mass of wadded up bandages with medical tape in random places than anything else, and it looked somewhat awkward. James was obviously not an expert bandager.  
  
"What did you do, anyway?" James asked in a superior voice.  
  
"Nothing," Lily insisted hastily.  
  
"That doesn't look like nothing," James replied in a singsong voice.  
  
"Leave me alone! I said nothing," Lily hissed.  
  
That ended the conversation. Yet later, when Lily's mother rewrapped her wound, Lily was forced to confess the source of her injury. Rebecca Evans was furious.  
  
"I understand that James annoys you Lily, but you must learn to control yourself. This was not his fault, it was your own," Her mother chided, oblivious to her daughter's protests.  
  
For the next few weeks, much to James's disappointment, Lily retreated to her room. No amount of James's pleading could allow Lily's mother to allow him access. Still, James found little ways to annoy her, switching her shampoo with syrup, hiding her various belongings, and snapping pictures of her at every possible moment with a cheap muggle camera and later begging her to autograph them, claiming to be selling photos of the weirdest person on Earth. James did in actuality find buyers, Peter was sending James money by owl in exchange for shots of Lily. The pudgiest marauder seemed to have developed a crush on Lily.  
  
Just when Lily felt she could take it no longer, and James was beginning to get bored of torturing Lily, a letter arrived at for James, from Sirius.  
  
Jamesie-  
  
The annual Black family reunion is taking place next week. I do not know if I can withstand another one alone. Assistance is requested. Of course, my mother cannot know that you plan to come, she would never allow it. You must show up unexpected and at the last moment, together we can revenge ourselves on the fouler aspects of my family. Don't write back, just show up at my house at seven AM on the third of August.  
  
-Sirius Black 


	4. A Black Family Reunion

James had never felt entirely comfortable at Sirius's house, under the disapproving gaze of Sirius's mother, but since the incident when he had rescued Lily from Devin Goyle, Sirius's mother had been downright hostile towards him. The prospect of facing Sirius's entire family at once was quite unpleasant. Yet James was not one to let his best friend down, and he could no more give up a chance to harass Sirius's fouler relatives than he could make his messy hair lie flat against his head.   
  
As unattractive as the offer seemed, James was more than inclined to take it. The thought of not going never even crossed his mind.   
  
So, on the appointed day, James stood in front of his Grandmother's fireplace, dressed in his best and only suit for some reason he could not fathom. Some part of James knew that this reunion would be a big deal, and in an attempt to minimize the animosity directed at him, James unconsciously made efforts to make himself appear well groomed.  
  
Taking a deep breath, James threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace and spoke clearly, "Sirius's house."  
  
James felt as if he were being pulled into the fireplace by his navel. When he was younger, he used to love traveling by Floo Powder, finding it very exciting. James was quite used to it by now, but he still enjoyed the few moments of weightlessness.  
  
He coughed and brushed the soot off himself before looking up to find himself in Sirius's living room, surrounded by more people than he could count. James smiled around amiably, ignoring the hateful stares directed at him.  
  
Unfortunately, Sirius was no where in sight and James was left to wander around purposefully, trying to ignore many familiar and hostile faces. Fortunately, James was rescued from the whispers of persecution by a familiar face belonging to one Nymphadora Tonks.  
  
Nymphadora was one of Sirius's many cousins, she was the one cousin who James found remotely pleasant. Nymphadora was a year younger than James and Sirius, slightly tall for her age, good natured and clumsy. James had always been fascinated by her, she had the strange ability to alter her appearance at will.   
  
Today, her eyes were a brilliant shade of purple and her hair was a shocking shade of orange. Her ordinarily perfect complexion was littered with freckles and her nose was shorter than usual. Still, James recognized Nymphadora right away from the way she carried herself. Also he was quite sure that no one else in Sirius's family would be caught dead with orange hair.  
  
"Oh, James!" Nymphadora shrieked, throwing her skinny arms around him happily, although they had only met a few times before. "I'm so happy you are here!"  
  
James hugged back hesitantly, a bit embarrassed at her vigor.   
  
"Are you looking for Sirius?" Nymphadora asked, before James had a chance to respond. "I think he is being interrogated by the Crabbes. Everyone is terribly put out with you because of what you did to Devin. Personally I think he needs to be taught a lesson. But we mustn't talk about that, at least not here. You are not in any real danger I do not think. No one would so much as raise a wand against you in the Black house, it would mortify Sirius's mother."  
  
James followed Nymphadora meekly as she led him over to where Sirius was standing with his head down, being lectured by an intimidating man. Nymphadora motioned for James to stop and the two stood in the background listening.  
  
"Certainly, Sirius, you have the potential to go far. You come from a most noble house and look at the many fine wizards and witches which share your bloodline," The tall dark man who Nymphadora said was Geoffrey Crabbe was saying sternly. "You must watch the company you keep. That boy James is going nowhere and many people would be disappointed if you went down with him."  
  
At that point, Nymphadora could restrain James no longer and he pushed in front of her, smiling up at Geoffrey Crabbe and his family. "I must say, I quite agree with you old chap," James spoke mockingly. "I would hate for Sirius to fall in with the wrong crowd."  
  
Sirius grinned ecstatically and nodded his head. "James is right, we'll go and work on that together… right now!"  
  
Geoffrey Crabbe and his wife both looked distinctly offended and their son, who James recognized from school took a menacing step forward. James vaguely recalled that his name was Oliver.  
  
More than ready for a chance to get away, Sirius grabbed both James and Nymphadora and took off in the opposite direction before any of the Crabbe's had a chance to act. They were an intimidating bunch, both in social stature and in cruelty.  
  
The three did not get far before they ran into Lucius Malfoy. Sirius sighed miserably. James was perhaps one of the only people (outside of Sirius's family) who knew that Sirius and Lucius were cousins. Sirius was related to a whole slew of horrible people, the Crabbes, the Goyles, the Lestragnes and the Malfoys were just a few.  
  
Lucius clucked his tongue. "Well, well, well… if it isn't the two biggest losers at Hogwarts. I had been trying to decide for a while, who in the school was truly the biggest loser. At first I had considered Severus, but mudblood lovers are worse. I am ashamed to call you family, what with the company you keep."  
  
Sirius smiled back winningly. "At least we are both passing transfiguration without outside help," he retorted.  
  
It was common knowledge that Lucius had failed that class, but his father had bought off people at the Ministry of Magic to give him a special exception.  
  
Lucius snarled but ignored Sirius, turning instead to James, "It seems, that you have been meddling in other people's affairs. I you know what is good for you I suggest you stay out of things from now on. The little mudblood deserved what she would have got."  
  
James stepped forward menacingly with Sirius right beside him.  
  
At that moment, a dark haired little girl with pale skin and brilliantly red lips sidled up to Lucius. Her eyes roamed back and forth between James and Sirius and finally landed on Sirius.  
  
"Let's drop the matter, shall we," she crooned persuasively. "It's hardly a surprise that Sirius and his friends are of questionable character. A bad egg may arise from even the finest of hens."  
  
Sirius grimaced and Nymphadora stepped forward.  
  
"Hello Bellatrix, and goodbye. Can't you see you are not wanted here?" Nymphadora exclaimed boldly, pulling both James and Sirius away by their arms.  
  
Malfoy's face flamed an angry red but Bellatrix stayed calm, staring at Nymphadora silently as the three made haste towards Sirius's room. James recalled meeting Bellatrix Lestrange in the past. Initially she had been sugary sweet towards James, but he had not been fooled by this. Sirius had told James many times about Bellatrix's manipulative nature, and James found it best to stay away from the sly little minx. Though James was itching for the opportunity to wreak havoc on the nastier aspects of Sirius's bloodline, the odds against the Marauding duo were overwhelming.  
  
Just as James, Sirius and Nymphadora were about to make their escape they ran into the last person they wanted to see: Sirius's mother.  
  
She stood before them, a small but intimidating figure, clad in a solemn black dress and tall stiletto heels. Her hair was pulled up in a tight, no nonsense bun which reminded James of his own Grandmother. Both women shared the same harsh frown lines and sharp features, but while James's grandmother was merely strict, Sirius's mother was cruel. Though he was almost ashamed to say it aloud, James was sure that she was pure evil.   
  
"Where do you think you are going!" Mrs. Black whispered frigidly.  
  
Her eyes fell on James and a look of utter disgust came over her drawn features. She raised an eyebrow and turned to Sirius.  
  
"What is this abomination doing in my house? Certainly you his part in your dear cousin Goyle's humiliation!" Sirius ducked but his mother grabbed him by his ear. "How dare you invite that muggle loving scoundrel good for nothing sissy into my home?"   
  
She pushed the speechless Sirius away violently and turned to James with a menacing stare.  
  
"I will let you stay, but only to spare myself the indignity of throwing you out of the door in front of my guests," Mrs. Black growled. "The three of you get back into the parlor, I will not tolerate impoliteness towards your relatives."  
  
Sirius grabbed his friends and eagerly darted out of his mother's line of vision.  
  
James laughed. "I really ticked her off with that whole saving Lily from Devin thing, huh?"  
  
"Don't get me started," Sirius rolled his eyes. "She threatened to wipe my name from the Black Family Tapestry and refused to feed me for a week."  
  
Sirius laughed at James's bewildered expression. "What, do you think that's something unusual? You should know my mum better than that by now. I can survive just fine even without her help."  
  
Behind him, James heard a menacing growl. He ignored it until Nymphadora tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him not to turn around. Of course, James could not resist looking.  
  
When he turned, James came face to face with someone he hadn't seen for quite some time. Devin Goyle. Devin did not speak, but took a slow step forward, towering over James and Sirius. Beside him, another boy whom James did not recognize let out a deep chuckle.  
  
James quavered under Devin's gaze and inadvertently took a step backwards. Sirius jumped in front of James looked about to say something unpleasant, when Nymphadora bounded forward, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process.   
  
"Why hello Devin! I see you have already met James. Since we have all been introduced, I suppose it is time for us to leave!" Nymphadora insisted hastily, trying to buffer the situation. James thought that she played the role of the buffer fairly often with a family like hers.  
  
Still, James had too much in him to allow himself to be buffered when it came to a confrontation such as this. The thought that Devin Goyle, who had attempted murder, walked free ate at him all of the time. All of his life James had had faith in the Ministry of Magic to take care of criminals, and to make the magical world a safe place. His faith had been very quickly dispelled after the way that the incident had gone unresolved.  
  
"Stand aside Tonks," James insisted harshly but with obvious affection. "I think I can fight my own battles." He stepped forward this time with purpose, refusing to show weakness to the older boy.  
  
Devin wrinkled his forehead. "If this were a battlefield you would be dead. It is lucky for you that we are in the Black home. I would not sully the family name simply for vermin like you. I assure you that you will be dealt with."  
  
James clenched his fists and managed to control his anger, but Sirius leapt forward with his wand out.  
  
"Deal with this! Verminexosis!" Sirius shouted shouted.  
  
James and Nymphadora both flinched at the nasty spell Sirius had sent towards his own cousin. Sirius had always had a tendency to overdo things.  
  
Devin fell to the ground quickly, his body convulsing quickly. He began to retch and choke, and in moments pulled a small rodent out of his throat.   
  
"Quick, let's get out of here!" James called, grasping Sirius's robes.  
  
Devin's companion quickly stepped forward and uttered a spell. Sirius dodged it and so did James. Nymphadora got hit straight on and her eyes promptly glued themselves shut.  
  
Nymphadora screamed and brought her hands to her eyes, frantically trying to pry them open. "I'm blind! I'm blind!" Hysterically she began to run around in circles.  
  
She ran smack into Severus Snape who fell to the ground with a thump where he began to cry pathetically.  
  
James ran to Nymphadora's side who had just ran headfirst into a wall, and Sirius ran about trying to hide as his mother approached with little Bellatrix Lestrange at her side.  
  
Nearby a haggard looking house elf shook his head and muttered spitefully under his breath, "dratted nasty little traitors, bringing shame on the house of my dear mistress!"  
  
Despite Sirius's attempts to hide, his mother found him and pulled him up violently by the collar, cutting off his air supply so Sirius gasped and coughed. "That is about enough young man! I want you out of my house! Out! And take your dirty mudblood loving friend with you!" she screeched. "If the two of you are not gone in thirty seconds I will take no responsibility to what may happen to you under this roof!"  
  
Sirius quickly grabbed James and the two boys dragged the struggling Nymphadora to the fireplace, where Floo powder was quickly taken advantage of.  
  
Moments later the three breathless children appeared in Cornelia Morgana Potter's sitting room, where she was enjoying her afternoon cup of tea.  
  
James's rigid grandmother screamed with alarm and dropped her teacup where it shattered on the hardwood floor.  
  
Nymphadora screamed in return and James hurriedly explained the situation to his grandmother while Sirius tried to quiet his cousin.  
  
As strict as Cornelia Potter was, she was a sensible woman. She had no wish to allow this screaming witch to disrupt her daily life. So she quickly and flawlessly delivered the counter curse and sent Sirius and Nymphadora on their way. Since neither of them were in a fit state to return to the Black manor, James escorted them next door to the Evans home.  
  
Lily's mother cooked and cared for the duo until they found it suitable to return home. During this time, Lily confined herself to her room, emerging only when required and not speaking to either Sirius or Nymphadora at all.  
  
Nymphadora tried several times to make conversation with Lily, and to befriend her, but Lily had already condemned Nymphadora as a friend of James. Lily was sure that no friend of James could be worth knowing. Even Sirius, who she normally tolerated, found that Lily was not willing to acknowledge his presence.   
  
Lily herself was having a most miserable summer and was very anxious for the school year to start, where she would at least have her friends for allies. 


	5. Fueds and Friendships

The summer passed slowly for James. His mother visited twice, and oddly enough seemed to be on very friendly terms with Mrs. Evans. The two loved to talk about their children and compare their two very different lives. Of course, James loved seeing his mother, but was disappointed that his father could not come as well. He knew that the reason was his own safety, but James had always been close with his father, and after John's death he longed for his presence.  
  
Still, rarely did James show any emotion regarding his family. On the occasions that he did, Sirius was quick to change the subject. Somehow, between playing variations of Quidditch in Lily's backyard and making a nuisance of himself, James was able to keep such painful subjects off of his mind.   
  
By the end of the summer, James had practically abandoned his plot to drive Lily insane. He had found a new and better target: Petunia's boyfriend Vernon.  
  
Petunia had been forced to finally tell Vernon about her freak sister Lily. Vernon had stayed away from the Evan's home for most of the summer, but by August he began to return occasionally, the memory of his past horrors had begun to fade somewhat in his mind.  
  
James let him build up his confidence for a while, leaving him alone for the first few times Vernon visited, letting work up to a level of confidence which would prove disastrous when James decided to strike.  
  
Naturally, James involved Sirius in this plot. Sirius had been beaten and confined to his room with no food for three days, so when he finally obtained permission to spend times with at Cornelia's, Sirius nearly exhausted James's food supply. Cornelia Potter only tolerated this because she noticed the bruises and marks on Sirius's face and though she was strict she did have a small bit of human compassion.  
  
In return to Cornelia's newfound tolerance, Sirius used all of the charm which he had in him, which was a considerable amount. For one thing, Sirius was a very good looking boy, and when he chose he could be a very charismatic person. Still, James's grandmother was not the most friendly of people. Allowing Sirius to stay in her home was about as much as she could manage.  
  
  
  
It was all that Sirius and James needed. It gave them plenty of time to plot and plan the things they would do to Vernon. It all came down to one big event. They both knew that they would only have one big chance to humiliate him, and set the date for the last day of summer. James figured that it was a good idea to wait until just before they left for Hogwarts, in case there were consequences.  
  
It was decided that James would be the one to do the actual magic, as Sirius had already received an official warning for cursing Devin Goyle. Still, neither boy was terribly worried. Though the letter had threatened, Sirius was sure that he would never be expelled from Hogwarts for something so trivial.   
  
"Everyone uses magic once and a while. Besides, if they actually expelled students just for using magic over the summer, we'd both be in Azkaban for all of the stuff we have done during school!" Sirius said with a laugh.  
  
James was a bit more cautious, but he too doubted that either boy would actually be expelled for their more interesting summer activities.  
  
Vernon did appear at the appointed date, and Sirius did a quick happy dance before he and James headed over to the Evans's house.  
  
James did not knock, but rather walked in confidently. He had spent a lot of time at Lily's over the summer, and her parents still let him do whatever he wanted. Lily on the other hand was downright venomous towards him, and Petunia was terrified of all things magic.  
  
It so happened that James and Sirius walked in at the exact moment that Petunia was yelling at her younger sister. James had never seen Lily so complacent and non aggressive. She looked almost intimidated.  
  
"Leave me alone Petunia," she muttered quietly. "I don't want to have anything to do with Vernon. Do you honestly think I am going to try and get on his nerves?"  
  
"Whatever, Freak! If you try anything you are dead. Get it?" Petunia gave Lily a good hard shove as to prove her point, forcing Lily to bang her head against the wall.  
  
  
  
Lily grimaced and nodded, rubbing her head and wincing. Then both she and Petunia noticed the two boys.  
  
Petunia's face went white and she slowly backed out of the room, her eyes darted from James to Sirius nervously.   
  
Lily jumped up with alacrity, her response the opposite of her sister's. Lily glared at the two boys as if challenging them to comment on her momentary weakness. When neither did she started to speak and then changed her mind and stormed off to the privacy of her room where even James did not dare violate after seeing a few examples of Lily's temper.  
  
Instead, he and Sirius made their way to the kitchen, where they would begin their preparations.   
  
"The best part about this," James said for the thousandth time, "is that it will get Vernon and Petunia, but Lily will get it in the bargain. It is her house after all."  
  
"Petunia will act worse towards her too," Sirius commented quietly ,"I never saw Lily answer to anyone the way she just did to Petunia."  
  
James shrugged uncomfortably, trying his hardest not to feel pity for Lily Evans, who was his enemy. The plan had to go off as expected.  
  
They waited until Petunia and Vernon had made themselves comfortable in the living room. Just when they were engaged in some heavy lip lock, James cast his spell and Vernon began slowly levitating off the ground. It was hard work, a lot harder than levitating the feathers and scrolls that they had practiced with in Charms class. First of all, Vernon weighed a whole lot more, second he was squirming around, and once he realized something was wrong he began to flail wildly.  
  
Petunia shrieked as Vernon began to rise towards the ceiling. Lily came running into the room, her fingers pressed against her cheeks in shock. Mrs. and Mr. Evans were soon to follow. James maintained eye contact and levitated Vernon silently as Sirius convulsed with uncontrolled laughter.  
  
Just when everyone had entered the room, James took the prank a step forward and smoothly muttered the spell to make Vernon's pants to drop, showing off his slightly dingy tighty- whites and pale flabby flesh.  
  
Lily gasped and ran over to James, pulling the wand from James's hand with a quick motion. Unfortunately, this quickly broke the spell and Vernon plummeted to the ground, landing with a plop on the sofa, where he laid motionless, sprawled out in an awkward position.   
  
"Oh Vernon darling!" Petunia cried and ran to him.   
  
Mrs. Evans hurried in and examined the large boy. "It's all right, he's just fainted."  
  
Mr. Evans looked faintly sick and Petunia was in tears on the floor, crying out senseless remarks about her 'sweety pumpkin Verny kins'.  
  
"James! Why did you do that? You hurt him!" Lily hissed angrily.  
  
"I wasn't going to drop him! If you hadn't pulled my wand away he would have landed safely," James responded.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't try to blame this on me!"  
  
They both stopped arguing when Vernon shot up like a cannon, suddenly very much awake. He immeadiatly stood and stumbled towards Lily, his face flushed and red with exertion. "You did this! You freak!" he shouted raising a fist.  
  
James leapt up with a start. "It was me!" He shouted boldly, dashing between Vernon and Lily.  
  
Vernon's red face turned an alarming shade of purple. "You…" he grunted stupidly, switching directions and plummeting towards James.  
  
However, Vernon had no chance of catching him. James was much smaller than his pursuer, but he was also much faster. James took off like a whip out the front door, and by the time Vernon reached the front hall he was already winded. Sirius did not even have to run for it, he simply waltzed right out the door, stopping to nod pleasantly to the gasping muggle. "Nice weather, isn't it?" Sirius asked with a laugh, before going to join James.  
  
After a few more short minutes, Vernon left the house without so much as a word of goodbye to Petunia.  
  
That night, Mrs. Evans had a chat with Cornelia Potter, and Cornelia had a little chat with James while Mr. Evans tried in vain to repair the cracked sofa. Lily and Petunia had a confrontation of a different sort.  
  
Petunia yelled and screamed, Lily screamed back, though she assumed the defensive mode. Eventually it escalated and Petunia left in a huff, thinking of a way to get her revenge.  
  
When Lily was asleep, Petunia went into her room and took her wrath out carefully on the sleeping form.  
  
Lily awoke the next morning with a pair of scissors by her pillow, and sheets covered in long red strands of hair. She screamed so loud that it woke the neighbors, and then screamed again when she glanced in her mirror. To say that she was a mess would be an understatement. Lily had chunks of hair missing to the scalp, and other long pieces left intact. There were obvious bald spots on her upper head and three inch spikes sticking out at odd angles.  
  
She ran downstairs to find Petunia smirking at her at the kitchen table. "I thought you might like to try out a new look for your freak school!" she cackled.  
  
Mrs. Evans was horrified and exchanged angry words with Petunia, insisting that the previous night's incident was not Lily's fault. However, Mrs Evans ultimately declared that she would deal with Petunia later, opting instead to help Lily pin up her remaining locks as best she could in the limited time before they would leave for Hogwarts.  
  
"I don't have time to cut it, or I would, just to even it all out. We have to leave for the station in less than an hour and you are still not completely packed!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed.  
  
Lily burst into tears several times that morning, and when she arrived at the train station she was conspicuously wearing a brown scarf over her hair and her face was red and puffy.  
  
At least this time around, Lily had no trouble getting through the barrier of 9 and ¾. Jackie met her promptly on the other side and Lily smiled, despite her woes, at the sunny familiar face.  
  
"Lily darling!" Jackie exclaimed and air kissed Lily dramatically. "How was your summer?"  
  
"Horrible," Lily admitted truthfully.  
  
Jackie winced. "I'm so sorry. I hate to comment, but why are you wearing a scarf on your head? Is it some strange third world fashion which I have yet to hear about?"  
  
Lily shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."  
  
Looking a bit offended, Jackie mouthed the word 'okay' and beckoned for Lily to follow her to a compartment she had saved.  
  
Brittany and Dora were already there when Lily arrived. Brittany leapt out of her seat and enveloped Lily in a violent embrace, almost knocking Lily off of her feet. Dora was much quieter in greeting her friend but Lily insisted on a hug.   
  
The girls giggled and gossiped for so long that they didn't even realize that the train had already left the station.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
In a compartment two cars down, five people of a different sort congregated. James and Sirius occupied one bench, Remus and Peter the other. The four were relating tales of summer mishaps and adventures. James's and Sirius's were much the same, and involved Lily more than anyone else. Remus had a few tales of magical mischief, but kept mostly quiet and Peter went on for much too long about how many times his clumsiness had gotten him into trouble at home.  
  
The fifth person had stories as well, loads of them, and all of the marauders were becoming partial to this person's stories, which were somewhat a mix of the others. The fifth person was Sirius's cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. Nymphadora was starting her first year at Hogwarts, and was so excited that she had taken to pacing the corridors. Finally, the marauders had coerced her into staying in their compartment to share summer hyjinks.  
  
Nymphadora was in the middle of a particularly good story when the door to the compartment swung open and a certain dark haired new student walked in.  
  
Sirius stood and glared menacingly. "Bellatrix," he greeted coldly.  
  
Bellatrix paused, smiled and surveyed her surroundings. After a moment she adopted a fake looking smile and placed an arm in mock affection on her male cousin's arm. "Why, hello Sirius! It's wonderful to see a familiar face. And Nymphadora too! What a lovely coincidence."  
  
Nymphadora stood defiantly. "Cut the bullshit Bellatrix. What do you want?"  
  
Bellatrix's smile dropped instantly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"   
  
Without another word, Bellatrix disappeared from the chamber. Nymphadora paced uneasily, her story abandoned.   
  
A few minutes later Nymphadora took off in the direction which Bellatrix had taken, obviously curious where her cousin was going.  
  
James and Sirius exchanged looks and hesitantly followed.  
  
James found Nymphadora just as she was entering the compartment where Lily and her friends were sitting.  
  
Bellatrix was sitting cozily between Lily and Brittany, gossiping happily towards Lily.  
  
"I'm ever so nervous," James heard Bellatrix mutter in a strange and giddy tone. "I don't know anyone at Hogwarts at all!" Then, spotting Nymphadora and the others she paused, "except my cousins. Here they are, Nymphadora and Sirius!"  
  
Nymphadora approached Bellatrix angrily, pulling the small girl up by her shirt collar. "Leave them alone Bellatrix, I know you are up to something!"  
  
Lily jumped up defensively. "Hey! You leave her alone!"  
  
Nymphadora turned towards Lily, dropping Bellatrix, who fell to the ground whimpering pathetically. "This doesn't involve you. If you knew my cousin…"  
  
"Just because she is your cousin doesn't give you the right to bully her!" Lily screeched, losing her temper.   
  
"Stay out of it!" Nymphadora shouted, turning back to Bellatrix, and pulling her violently to her feet.  
  
Lily lifted her wand. "I'm warning you! I will curse you if you lay another hand on her! She did nothing to you!"  
  
Before Lily could utter a spell, Nymphadora's fist collided with Lily's face. Lily reeled backward and fell to the ground dramatically, blood spurting from her nose.  
  
Bellatrix broke into a smile for an instant before retaining her timid stance. Only Jackie caught this, and she studied the newcomer carefully, as Brittany and Dora rushed to comfort Lily.  
  
Realizing that violence towards Bellatrix would not help the situation, Nymphadora simply made a threatening gesture towards her cousin before retreating quickly from the compartment.  
  
Sirius did not move but only stood back watching Bellatrix suspiciously, but James leapt up and went to Lily's side. Brittany, in an effort to stop the blood, pulled off Lily's scarf.  
  
"Lily! Your hair!" Brittany screamed.  
  
Dora echoed this and James just dropped his jaw.  
  
Trying to cover her hair with one hand, and holding her nose with the other Lily burst into tears. Brittany and Dora tried desperately to comfort her and James simply sat in puzzlement. He could find no possible explanation for Lily's drastic and sudden change of hair style. After assuring himself that Lily was fine, despite the damage inflicted by Nymphadora, James allowed himself to be ushered out by Brittany.  
  
James went back to the Marauder's compartment, still wondering what exactly had just happened. 


	6. The Sorting Song

When the train finally came to a stop, and all students were in their uniforms, James felt a wave of excitement surge through his body. He was home.  
  
Sirius however, was not so easily appeased. As soon as he exited the train he began to beg and barter with Ogg, the Hogwarts Caretaker. Sirius desperately wanted to be allowed to accompany the first years across the lake. He and Nymphadora had concocted a plan to tip Bellatrix's boat.  
  
"For the last time," Ogg finally yelled impatiently, "only first years get to make the trip across the lake! You have to go with the rest of the returners."  
  
Sirius finally stomped up and down and stuck out his tongue. Then he collapsed dramatically on the ground. "You are killing me Ogg! You are killing me! It will all be your fault when I die. I must… travel across the lake. I will kill myself… I'll do it. That is a promise."  
  
James rolled his eyes as Sirius proceeded to roll around on the ground with his hands affixed to his throat as if to strangle himself. He was making loud over exaggerated gagging sounds and many of the first years looked downright terrified of him.  
  
"Who is that crazy boy?" One first year girl asked James timidly, pointing towards Sirius.  
  
"Him? Oh he's a legend around here. His name is Sirius Black. They say that he ate a whole owl once, alive. Yup, he traded his own kidney for a new broomstick. Crazy as they come old Sirius Black. He chopped off some red head's hair back on the train. But his favorite hobby is drowning first years in the Lake. That's why he's so eager to get on a boat," James explained in an earnest tone.  
  
The girl's already wide eyes grew even wider. She glanced at Sirius again with a horrified look on her face, before running over to whisper frantically to another group of first years.  
  
Sirius, noticing the looks of the intimidated first years, began to moan even louder, and suddenly jumped to his feet and sprinted full speed towards the small group of first years. They shrieked and quickly dispersed.  
  
"Iggidy biggety bah!" Sirius screamed, waving his wand wildly. "Rrrrrr!"  
  
Ogg shot Sirius a dirty look, and began to gather up the first years, who were all in various states of panic.  
  
While Ogg and his assistant Hagrid were busy trying to calm the first years, Sirius wrapped his cloak around his head and inconspicuously crept towards the boats, motioning for James, Remus and Peter to follow.   
  
James sighed, he knew that he would follow Sirius. Part of him just wanted to enter the hall like a normal second year, but then again, he knew that whatever Sirius and Nymphadora had planned would be a lot more fun than what would be in store for him in the other route.  
  
So James and the other two Marauders crept to the bushes to hide with Sirius. Being careful to hide their faces, James and the others subtly climbed into boats as the first years were boarding. They were not noticed.  
  
James and Sirius boarded with Nymphadora, and the two boys managed to stay discreet under her guidance. Peter wasn't exactly well known, so he boarded with strangers and was not recognized. Remus kept his head down and managed to avoid Ogg's gaze.  
  
The fleet was halfway across the lake when Sirius and Nymphadora met eyes and exchanged a meaningful nod.  
  
Sirius nudged James, and James caught Remus's attention. The first to stand was Sirius, but the others followed quickly.  
  
Before Bellatrix, and her innocent boat companions could react, three separate spells were headed her way. Remus, however looked a bit puzzled and Peter leapt up a moment to late, and managed to tip his own vessel in the process.  
  
Bellatrix's boat not only tipped, but shot straight up in the air about ten feet and landed upside down. James thought that this beat last year's fiasco ten to one. While it was fun to torture Lily Evans, Bellatrix scored much higher on the evil scale, and James would rather see her suffer than Lily any day.  
  
Of course, the tipping of Bellatrix's boat had quite an amusing effect on the rest of the frightened first years. Many leapt up themselves, and those in boats nearest to the Marauders, screamed and two more of the small boats were tipped.  
  
Ogg was furious and several prefects were even more so, embarrassed by their failure to spot the Marauders among the first years. Peter and the rest of the fallen students emerged fairly quickly, pushed up by a mysteriously large tentacle. Most looked wet, but in fairly good spirits. However, a moment later, Bellatrix surface, sopping wet and furious. Sirius applauded loudly as she climbed pathetically into a boat next to Tad Whelblock, one of the new Gryffindor prefects.   
  
"Way to go Bella!" he called after a loud whistle.   
  
James added a quick, "Lookin' good! I hear the wet dog look is very popular this year."  
  
A few first years began to giggle and James noticed a few of the girls batting their eyelashes in his direction. He smiled back in a cocky manner, glad for the attention. Sirius too, was attracting his share of attention. The difference was that Sirius could care less, he was too focused on hating Bellatrix to even notice the cute first year girls who were looking his way.  
  
As it was, Bellatrix's introduction to Hogwarts, was almost as traumatic as Lily's had been the previous year.  
  
James and the other Marauders were escorted to the Great Hall by Ogg.  
  
"When I get through with the four of you, you are going to wish you had never come to this school! With antics like that, I will make sure you are expelled, and then some!" Ogg bellowed angrily as he lead the four Marauders into the hall, and forced them to sit next to on the teacher's bench.  
  
Already stories were going around about the escort of the first years across the lake. Peter looked faintly ill, looking around in horror at the crowd of people glancing at him and the other Marauders. Remus looked a bit guilty, but both James and Sirius were enjoying the attention. James was casually ruffling his already messy hair, and Sirius was shooting menacing glares at the nervous looking first years lining up near the door.  
  
James smiled as the timid procession was escorted inwards by Dumbledore. He remembered exactly what it had felt like the first time he had entered Hogwarts, the feeling of terror, mixed with elation of the prospect of being singled out to try on the hat.  
  
This year the hat was sitting on the same stool, looking exactly the same. So naturally, James was astonished when it belted out a completely different song.   
  
First years come and gather 'round  
  
It's time to hear a remarkable sound  
  
For at Hogwarts, it is true   
  
This is something you must do  
  
Listen to the Sorting Hat  
  
Pay attention and do not chat  
  
For I will tell you where you shall go  
  
And which house you shall know  
  
Through thick and thin,  
  
Your house will be your kin,  
  
Stick together and you will succeed  
  
Whether you follow or you lead  
  
Each house has a different tone  
  
Which one will you call your own?  
  
Gryffindors are sure to lead  
  
They specialize in noble deeds  
  
Brave and loyal, just and true  
  
This is what Gryffindors do  
  
Ravenclaws use their minds  
  
Digging up intellectual finds  
  
Wisdom and truth are their gifts  
  
Ravenclaws cause no rifts  
  
Hufflepuffs are workers true  
  
They will always see things through  
  
Always fair and always kind  
  
Even when in a bind  
  
Slytherins will do anything to win  
  
For them, ambitions never run thin  
  
Sly and cunning, these people are  
  
Their skills will always take them far  
  
Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin  
  
No matter which house you are in  
  
Every house and every scholar  
  
Will leave this school just a little bit taller  
  
So line on up, the time is here  
  
First years, there is nothing to fear  
  
Try me on, I'll have a look  
  
At every cranny and every nook  
  
Inside your mind  
  
Until I can find  
  
The thing that lets me know  
  
Just where you ought to go.  
  
When the hat concluded it's song, the hall was filled with the noise of furious applause and cat calls. Sirius was among the loudest catcallers.  
  
"The sorting hat is sexy!" Sirius cried, and James began to seriously doubt his friends sanity.   
  
Perhaps the show that Sirius had been putting on was not so much a show as James had thought. The first years were still shooting him slightly terrified glances, but so were several older students as well. It seemed very much as if Sirius had lost his marbles. Still, James didn't much care. Sirius was his best friend, crazy or not.  
  
"Alouise, Marci!" the sorting hat called.  
  
A very small and very pretty blond first year stepped forward, her pale blue eyes wide with anticipation. She seemed to flinch when the hat touched her head, and when it called out "Gryffindor!" she fell off the stool looking a bit surprised.  
  
James watched her as she walked shakily over to the Gryffindor table. The terms brave and bold did not seem to fit her very well from first glance. Still, he was happy that such a girl was joining Gryffindor, his house could always use more pretty girls. All of the Marauders clapped loudly along with the Gryffindor table, although they were seated apart.  
  
Several more names were called, and James found himself growing bored. He watched Nymphadora and Bellatrix with curiosity. They were the only two first years he knew so far, and he already had strong ideas of where they would end up. Bellatrix belonged in Slytherin, no doubt, anything else would be unfathomable. Nymphadora, James hoped, would become a Gryffindor. Of course, the incident between her and Lily had been unfortunate, but it had just been a misunderstanding, Nymphadora was only doing what she had to do. He finally decided that Nymphadora would be the one to keep his sympathy.  
  
Finally Bellatrix was called forward, and to no one's surprise, except perhaps Lily and Brittany's, she became a Slytherin. Sirius's dark haired cousin slinked off assuredly, her heavy lidded eyes shining in the light. James saw Bella flash Lily Evans a small smile and a disappointed shrug as she passed by their table, but distinctly saw Bellatrix roll her eyes when Lily was out of sight.  
  
James felt a burning desire to stand up and curse her but restrained himself, he could see that Sirius was experiencing a similar sentiment. It was going to be infuriating having Bellatrix at Hogwarts. She was so manipulative, and sly, and there was very little that could be done against her.  
  
Struggling to control himself, James turned his attention to the procession of first years. Lars Levin became a Ravenclaw and Scarlet Lummox a Hufflepuff.  
  
The four Marauders waited impatiently until the familiar and well loved name of Nymphadora Tonks was called out, and a now blue haired girl skipped forward happily and tripped over her own feet. Nymphadora landed on her face and jumped up quickly to a twittering of laughter, not looking in the least phased. She plopped down on the stool and fastened the hat to her head. A moment later the hat called out "Gryffindor", and James and Sirius erupted into wild shrieks.  
  
Nymphadora leapt up, knocking over the stool in the process, and ran over to the Gyffindor table, only once she had arrived realizing that she was still wearing the hat. Flushing red, she hurriedly returned it to it's stool.  
  
"Good old Tonks," Sirius commented amiably, slapping James on the back with glee.  
  
Ogg, quickly commanded them to contain themselves, and the Maruaders sat complacently once more to wait out the rest of the ceremonies.  
  
However, after all of the first years had been sorted into houses and the students began to turn to Dumbledore, the hat called out another name, "Charles, Roderick."  
  
A gasp went through the Great Hall when a tall boy emerged from the doorway. Roderick was tall and well built, obviously no first year. Many were surprised by the appearance of such a large and unorthodox character. However, James and Sirius gasped for another reason altogether.  
  
The two Marauders, along with a great deal of others recognized Roderick, as the keeper from the Guatemalan Goblins Quidditch team. He was known as one of the best Quidditch players in the league.  
  
"What is he doing here?" Sirius questioned excitedly.   
  
"He must be a transfer," Remus answered sensibly.  
  
James only gazed up at Roderick in awe. He had never imagined that there were Quidditch players who were still in school. Even more strange, was the fact that Roderick Charles played for Guatemala, yet he was here, in Hogwarts.  
  
The Quidditch player walked confidently up to the sorting hat and placed it at an angle atop his head.   
  
James could hear many of the girls giggling and commenting on Roderick's good looks. The word was quickly circulating to those who did not follow Quidditch, who exactly was sitting on the stool. Everyone grew quiet when the hat called out "Gryffindor!" Then a hysteric cheering began and James and the other Marauders joined in loudly.  
  
However, James was quickly distracted when Dumbledore announced that it was time to eat.  
  
  
  
Unfortunately, the four Marauders were denied the right to take part in the feast. Ogg insisted that he escort the four boys to professor Lacy's room.  
  
Being denied access to the feast put the four boys in much damper spirits, but still they were happy to have returned to Hogwarts, faced with a whole year full of mayhem and Quidditch. James and Sirius were happy about the Quidditch part in particular, for this year they were second years, and allowed to try out for the team. Though the beater positions were already occupied, both boys aspired to overthrow the current two occupants. Their happiness, at least, could not be daunted at the prospect of being lectured by Professor Lacy.  
  
Peter however, kept whining nervously about being expelled, and Remus simply stayed quiet. He hadn't really done anything in the first place, James reckoned, yet Remus had been there just the same.  
  
"What will my parents say," Peter whined miserably, "If I am expelled? I'll have to live just like a squib. It will be horrible!"  
  
Peter looked on the verge of tears, and Sirius looked incredibly annoyed.  
  
"Shut up, will you? We're not going to be expelled!" He hissed.  
  
James nodded. "Peter, stop being a baby."  
  
  
  
Peter continued to whimper loudly, and finally Sirius moved forward about to clock him on the head, when Remus stopped him.  
  
"It's alright Pete, we won't be expelled. Don't worry about it a bit. It's just Professor Lacy we are dealing with, she probably won't even give us detentions," Remus said tactfully.  
  
That calmed Peter down a bit, and appeased Sirius.  
  
When Professor Lacy finally arrived, she found Remus calmly reading a book entitled 100 Draughts to Befuddle Your Enemies, Peter twitching nervously in a corner, and Sirius and James playing catch with a Remembrall which they had extracted from Peter's person.  
  
No one stopped what they were doing until she cleared her throat loudly.  
  
Sirius jumped, and failed to the catch the Remembrall, which instead resounded off of his head with a clunk, before falling to the ground.  
  
"No!" James called out and dove forward, catching the ball a centimeter from the floor, and then tossing it haphazardly back to Peter, who barely managed to catch it.  
  
Professor Lacy cleared her throat loudly and the boys turned towards her sheepishly.  
  
"Hello Professor," Remus greeted amiably.   
  
The other boys followed his example.  
  
"Hello boys," Lacy said with a slight smile. "I'm sorry we had to greet each other under such bad terms. That being said, I am very disappointed in your behavior towards those poor first years! As if last year's fiasco wasn't bad enough. Half of the new students were out of their minds with fear! I would have thought that as second years you would have been more responsible towards these new students. I'm afraid I must assign you each detentions with me, after tomorrows lessons to help teach you about the importance of being kind to first years."  
  
"All right professor, we will be there," Remus assured her, as the others left gleefully.  
  
"See, I told you we would get off easy!" Sirius exclaimed. "One detention a piece, with Lacy! She has got to be the nicest teacher, her detentions can't be too bad!"  
  
"It's a good thing she's our head of house. If we had Snape we would have been expelled by now for sure," James commented sagely.  
  
Happy, though a bit hungry, the boys finally arrived in Gryffindor tower, where students seemed to be celebrating Roderick's addition to the house. The majority of the Gryffindors seemed to be crowded around him, asking him questions. Several girls were holding out pieces of parchment adorned with Roderick's autograph, and excitedly showing off to their friends. James rolled his eyes, and led his friends away from the mayhem, but secretly, he too was tempted to approach him.  
  
"Good thing he's not a beater, huh?" Sirius nudged James with a grin.  
  
"Do you think he'll actually play for Gryffindor?" Peter asked hopefully.  
  
"Of course he will." James said assuredly.  
  
James smiled and turned around, surprised to run smack into Lily Evans.  
  
Her face was bruised, and her scarf was slipping, revealing her choppy red hair. James winced involuntarily at the sight of her. Nymphadora had certainly done a number to Lily's face.   
  
"What exactly happened to your hair Lily?" James blurted out without thinking, and then instantly realized that it might not have been the wisest question to ask.  
  
Lily's already puffy face grew redder and her green eyes gleamed warningly. "Leave me alone Potter! It's your fault, but I'm sure you will not care!"  
  
James inadvertently took a step back, running a hand through his messy hair. "Hey, I did not do a thing to your hair."  
  
"Well, Petunia wouldn't have chopped my hair off if you hadn't tried to kill her boyfriend!" Lily screamed.  
  
Several of Roderick Charles' fans turned their heads to watch the commotion.  
  
"I didn't try to kill him," James said as quietly as he could manage, a bit embarrassed at the attention they were receiving.  
  
"You could have killed him all the same! Dropping him like that from the ceiling…"  
  
"Hey! I wouldn't have dropped him if you hadn't taken my wand!" James screamed back, beginning to get angry.  
  
"You are such an idiot James!" Lily yelled. "With your messy hair and your geeky glasses!"  
  
James took a step forward, "Oh yeah, well look at you! Your hair looks like a flaming pile of garbage, and at least my face doesn't look like a pound of hamburger! You know what? I am glad that Petunia chopped your hair off and you deserved what Nymphadora did to you. I don't even care if it's my fault, I'd do it again! In fact, I would do worse. I you weren't a girl…"  
  
James would have kept going but Remus was tugging on his sleeve, and finally the tugging grew so urgent that James was forced to catch his breath. He pushed Remus away lightly and turned back to Lily. When his eyes met hers he froze, instantly regretting everything that he had just said.  
  
In all the time he had known Lily Evans, she had always been quick to lose her temper. Never had she failed to be furious at James for even the most innocent offenses. So when James looked at Lily, he was expecting yelling, slapping even throwing things. He was not expecting her to cry.  
  
But Lily stood before him, not moving, just staring with her swollen lip quivering, her eyes growing moist. He watched in horror as the first tear fell down her cheek and instantly began to stutter out the beginnings of an apology.   
  
All around him, people were staring. Even Roderick Charles had stopped signing autographs to watch the scene unfold.  
  
"Lily… I… I … it wasn't… wait!" James called remorsefully.  
  
Lily didn't stay to listen, she turned quickly and darted up the stairs.  
  
Eyebrows were raised, and students muttered. Many remembered past incidents involving James in the past, and rolled their eyes, dismissing it as typical. He heard some girls talking in loud whispers about the time when James had shoved Lily, after hearing his brother had died.  
  
Brittany, Dora and Jackie stayed long enough to shoot James evil looks before dashing up the stairs after their friend.  
  
"He's abusive! I told you last year. I don't understand why that girl stays with him, they fight so much," one fourth year was saying a bit loudly.  
  
James broke out of his stupor and approached the girls, who instantly ceased their gossiping. "She's not my girlfriend by the way. And yeah, you know I feel great about what just happened, I am a terrible person. I get it. Next time try saying it to my face."  
  
Feeling incredibly immature and peevish, James hurried up the stairs to his own dorm room, where he sulked in as much privacy as he could. Many of his fellow second years were trying to get through to him, but fortunately Sirius and Remus managed to hold them at bay. 


	7. A Hairy Problem

The next morning, James rose late, and joined his friends just as they were finishing breakfast. Sirius and Remus took off when they had finished, and Peter followed hastily, leaving James alone. James turned to Nymphadora, and scooted over to find a seat next to her.  
  
"Hey James," Nymphadora greeted in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "I just wanted to talk to you about what you said to Lily last night."  
  
James groaned and turned away.   
  
"I don't think you did anything wrong James," Nymphadora breached carefully. "She deserved it. I just wanted to tell you that what you said was really low. It's below the belt to insult her appearance like that. I mean I feel really bad about hitting her as it is, but what you did was much worse. With a girl, you should never insult how she looks."  
  
James rolled his eye and pretended to focus on an interesting spot on the ceiling. In fact, the ceiling generally was a spot of interest, as it was bewitched to look like the sky outside.  
  
Unperturbed by James' feigned indifference, Nymphadora turned to her friend, simultaneously knocking a glass of orange juice all over James's robes. Nymphadora's face flushed and she whipped out her wand quickly to repair the damage.  
  
  
  
"Sorry James, I'll fix it," Nymphadora blustered.   
  
Before James had time to stop her Nymphadora had muttered a spell which somehow lit James' robes afire.  
  
Nymphadora and James both screamed and leapt up, James spouting alarming ribbons of orange and red. Nymphadora tripped over her own feet. Quickly and calmly, a pretty blond girl stood up and shouted a counter curse, and James' flames went out.  
  
Looking more than a bit flustered, Nymphadora made and excuse to leave and quickly retreated from the Great Hall, leaving James and her blond friend behind.  
  
The blond girl smiled shyly and James grinned back, adjusting his robes. He recognized her from the sorting ceremony. She was the pretty blond girl whom he had applauded vigorously for.  
  
"Hello, I don't think we have met. My name is James." He introduced himself without letting the grin fall from his face.  
  
"Yeah, I know… I mean I've heard Nymphadora talk about you before. My name is Marci Alouise."  
  
James shook her hand vigorously and perhaps for a little too long.  
  
The small blond girl giggled and blushed, finally withdrawing her hand after the seconds stretched into minutes.   
  
"Thank you Marci, for saving my life," James crooned lightly. "If not for your brave display, perhaps I would be nothing but a pile of ash."  
  
Once again Marci giggled and batted her eyelashes. "Well it was only a small flame retardant charm."  
  
James rolled his eyes. "And you are a first year! Wow, that makes me feel really stupid, I have never even heard of that spell. Oh, and there have been so many times when I could have used that."  
  
"I could give you private lessons if you like," Marci said with a bat of her eyelashes.  
  
James raised and eyebrow and ruffled his messy hair. "Sure, I'd like that."  
  
Yet another giggle was omitted from the tiny blonde and James felt hope rising in him. What if the girl liked him? He figured that he could win her over.   
  
As James headed towards his first class of the year, his mind was filled with fantasies of him and Marci. He could imagine the two of them walking hand in hand by the lake, he could see her leaning against him and confessing her love. James' ego began to pump up as he pictured himself as he thought she must see him, the strong and brilliant older man. James assumed a manly pose and flexed as he stopped at the doorway of his first class, Herbology with the Slytherins.   
  
James knew that being late on his first day would not make a good impression, but impressions really mattered very little to him. He was confident enough without the approval of teachers.  
  
As it was, Professor Sprout was otherwise occupied. It seemed that James had missed out by not arriving on time.   
  
When he walked in, Sirius was on top of a desk, wildly brandishing his wand, to the amazement of James, as well as the rest of the class. Professor Sprout was frantically trying to block Sirius's efforts. Behind Professor Sprout, James could just make out a dark figure ducking behind a familiar redhead.  
  
"Out of my way!" Sirius yelled, dashing around the professor.  
  
James ran forward trying to figure out what was going on. Then he saw the figure crouching behind Lily. It was Sirius's least favorite cousin, Bellatrix. Still, James was confused.  
  
"Sirius, don't!" James yelled, trying to keep up with his friend.  
  
Sirius Black was jumping over desks and scrambling around panicking students. Bellatrix continued to cling to Lily, shrieking in terror.  
  
Sirius stopped just short of Lily.  
  
"Move Evans," he shouted impatiently. "Don't make me hex you!"  
  
"Leave her alone Sirius! She did nothing to you! I'm warning you…" Lily responded bravely. Her green eyes gleamed wildly under her white scarf. James though she resembled an amazon, brilliantly brave, her harsh strain of beauty lined with danger and strength.  
  
James watched as Sirius violently attempted to tear Lily away from the cowering Bellatrix, shuffling quickly to make his way to the front, where Professor Sprout was pulling ineffectually on Sirius's robes.  
  
Lily was being, of course, characteristically Lily, and refused to be pushed aside. "Leave her alone!" she yelled, placing herself directly in the line of danger, a martyr waiting to be born.  
  
Even though Sirius was raging, he was still unwilling to do more than push Lily aside, stopping short of doing her any real damage. James wasn't sure what sneaky thing Bellatrix had done to warrant Sirius's rage, but he had no doubt that she had earned it.   
  
It was James, with Remus's help, who finally pulled Sirius away from Lily and Bellatrix.  
  
"Mr. Black, if you can calm yourself you may remain, however, if I ever see another outburst like that I will have you permanently removed from this class!" Professor Sprout reproached angrily. "You will see me after class about your punishment, and I insist that you stay away from those girls who cause you such anger. Attacking other students! What is the world coming to?" she muttered dangerously under her breath.  
  
Sirius finally was persuaded to take a seat, though he was still fuming. James wondered who looked more angry, Sirius or Lily. Tubby Proffessor Sprout quickly resumed the lecture, still looking a bit flustered, but completely intent on carrying on with the lesson. It was several minutes before James dared to speak to his friend.  
  
"What happened mate?" James finally asked in a whisper, when Professor Sprout seemed to have successfully redirected the attention of the class.  
  
"What do you think?" Sirius hissed back. "Bellatrix is a dirty little backstabber, that's what. I do not trust her an inch!"  
  
"Never mind why she is even in a second year class, why did you attack her?" James asked under his breath when Professor Sprout was busy dealing with Severus, whose notes had been destroyed by several of Malfoy's friends as entertainment.  
  
Sirius looked around suspiciously, as if fearing that Bellatrix was eavesdropping. "Something she said to me, which no one else heard."  
  
James shrugged. "What did she say?"  
  
  
  
"I don't remember the exact words, but it was vile."  
  
"Tell me what you do remember," James hissed impatiently.  
  
"She let me know that she is up to something. I think it has to do with a certain redhead."  
  
"Lily?" James asked, horrified.  
  
Sirius shrugged. "I guess. I don't really know why she made me so angry, its just that everything I seem to do only helps her! Nothing I can do to stop it. Something horrible is going to come of this, mark my words. Bellatrix is just like her mother, she will stop at nothing to accomplish her foul aims."  
  
James glanced once more at Lily, who was smiling faintly beneath her scarf at Bellatrix. Bellatrix returned Lily's look with a psuedo bashful glance, conveying her supposed gratitude.   
  
He understood somehow what Sirius meant. There was something about Bellatrix which made his blood boil. She was nothing like Lucius and his friends, something told James that she was a much more dangerous opponent. However much James fought with Lily, he could never condone a person such as Bellatrix to hurt her.  
  
Still feeling guilty about his outburst, James resolved to make it up to Lily somehow. James decided that once he persuaded her to tolerate him once more, he would warn her about Bellatrix. He wanted to talk to her immediately, but knew that it would not be the best time after last night's turmoil.  
  
"Why is she in this class?" he asked.  
  
Sirius shrugged, more than likely the question had never even occurred to him.  
  
Remus was the one to answer. "She probably requested to be. First years can take additional classes if they want. The ambitious ones often do. All she would have to do is get it cleared with Dumbledore and her head of house."  
  
After class, Sirius bid James goodbye gloomily, for once looking regretful about being punished. James understood the sentiment. Something about the whole scenario was very unsettling.  
  
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and James found himself with time to spare when Sirius announced that he would be serving his detention that same evening. Remus was studying, and James found the prospect of alone time with Peter more than just a bit dull.   
  
For nearly an hour James paced the halls, thinking about all of the drama which had unfolded. As much as he tried to forget about it, a feeling of guilt kept distracting him from lighter thoughts. Lily's face kept popping into his mind, not the tearful and bruised face of the previous night, but the freckled and pleasant features that he had known and despised for so long.   
  
The sources of his guilt were numerous. Lily had suffered not one but three injustices as of late, and James didn't know what to do to atone for a single one of them. Apologizing seemed like the simplest choice, yet he knew he could never do it. Seeking forgiveness was just not in his nature. James thought about it all night until suddenly he had an epiphany.   
  
Lily was a girl, and James knew that girls cared a lot about what they looked like. Nymphadora had affirmed that. James also reckoned that he was more or less responsible for her hideous new hair style. What Lily needed, he decided, was a solution to her hair problem. James decided to make her a wig.  
  
After much consideration, James decided that the first step to making a wig was to obtain hair. James began his quest in the common room.  
  
James narrowed down the possibilities to several first year girls with long hair. The first one he approached was a jumpy looking girl with big round glasses named Penelope Abbot.  
  
"Hello there," James greeted her cheerfully. "How are you doing today?"  
  
The girl drew back, looking terrified. "Aren't you friends with that crazy boy?"  
  
James paused, taken aback. His surprise did not last long.  
  
"Why, yes. As a matter of fact, I am approaching you because Sirius, aka that crazy boy, has picked you to be his next victim," James lied smoothly.  
  
"What will he do?" Penelope's eyes widened fearfully.  
  
"Well," James drawled, "I really can not say at this point. It will be something awful though, he really does love doing awful things, but he never does the same thing twice."  
  
"Can you stop him," She wailed tearfully, "please! I'll do anything!"  
  
James sighed at her pathetically predictable display and pretended to consider.   
  
  
  
"I really should not be doing this for you, Sirius would kill me if he knew, but there is one easy way out of it," James explained.  
  
"What?" Penelope cried.  
  
"Sirius never goes after girls with short hair. I don't know why but it is just some odd stereotype of his. If you let me cut your hair he would definitely leave you alone," James said slyly.  
  
Behind her thick glasses Penelope narrowed her eyes, her fingers reaching up to stroke her long brown hair nervously. "Are you sure? I really like my hair long. Maybe I will just try to avoid him," Penelope sounded a bit unsure.  
  
James moved in for the kill. "Suit yourself then. Just don't blame me if he comes after you with his hatchet."  
  
Penelope leapt up quickly. "I'll do it! Cut my hair! Please?"  
  
James shrugged. "I guess."  
  
An hour later with a cauldron full of wavy brown hair, James began to search through his textbooks for a color changing spell.   
  
Long after the rest of his roommates fell sound asleep, James finally succeeded in turning the brown hairs red. The color was exceedingly more dramatic than Lily's color, more of a shockingly fake shade reminiscent of a clown. Nevertheless, James was very happy with it, feeling that it was even better than the tint of her actual hair.  
  
James shook Sirius awake to inquire about how he might obtain some all purpose glue, and managed to locate some in Peter's satchel. Sirius fell back asleep instantly, but James stayed up for the rest of the night working on the present for Lily.  
  
By the time that the first light of day was beginning to seep through the curtained windows, James was just putting the finishing touches on the wig. He felt that it was a masterpiece. James had put a lot of effort into the making of the wig, and he thought that surely Lily would have no choice but to forgive him once he gave it to her.  
  
When Sirius yawned and rolled out of bed, James quickly tried the wig on his own head and assumed a girly pose.  
  
Sirius let out a scream which woke the rest of the dozing boys. He rolled back the covers and emerged quickly from his bed, sporting superman pajamas. James tossed him the wig and waited for Sirius to spout praises.  
  
"Is that some sort of creature? Where is the slime coming from?" Sirius asked, examining the wig closely.  
  
James shook his head confidently. "It's not a creature, it's a wig. I made it for Lily. And that's not slime, it's glue."  
  
Sirius looked skeptical. "You are going to glue this atrocity to Lily's head? Sorry to break it to you mate, but that is not really the best way to make an apology."  
  
"I'm not going to glue it to her head!" James looked astonished that his friend would think such a thing. "I made it for her as a present. You know, to make up for what I said to her. Also it was kind of my fault Petunia chopped off her hair in the first place."  
  
Sirius took a deep breath. "Look James, I really don't know about this. It really is kind of strange looking."  
  
"Are you joking? This is practically professional quality. It took me all night and it was made from real hair and everything," James said defensively.  
  
"Alright," Sirius shrugged. "Your choice, man. I can't want to see her face when you give it to her."  
  
James shrugged off Sirius's strange comment. He was immensely proud of his artistic creation, and nothing that anyone could say would diminish his satisfaction. James was assured that Lily would throw herself at his feet in gratefulness upon receiving his masterpeice.   
  
A struggle between two desires was going on in James' mind. Part of him wanted to wait for every boy in the dorm room to wake up so he could show off his snazzy wig, but another part of him was too impatient for Lily to behold the result of his labor to wait for them. Finally he contented himself by shaking Remus and Peter awake and hurriedly shoving the wig in their faces without any explanation before wrapping it in an old copy of the daily prophet and hurrying out the door.  
  
James litterally flew down the stairs, tripping only a few times and out into the hall. He pushed his way through a group of intimidating seventh years, one of whom appeared to be trying to tell him something, and darted in between Oliver Crabbe and another equally stupid crony in his efforts to find Lily quickly.  
  
As he approached the great hall, the thought occurred to him that perhaps Lily was not already inside. To James, the thought was almost to grave to handle, he couldn't imagine waiting any longer to reveal his surprise. With a strange hesitance, James threw open the double doors dramatically and stepped into the hall, a small and striking figure below the vivid sunny skies.  
  
At first he thought that she wasn't there, and he was about to leave in disgust, but then he spotted her, discreet under a dark brown scarf. Paying no attention to Lily's companions, James marched toward her in determination.  
  
He came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. It seemed to him as if it took her an eternity to turn her around, turning not only just her head but her whole body. As soon as she saw him her expression turned from surprise to mistrust and loathing. One of her companions turned around as well and grinned a little too widely.  
  
James recognized the girl to Lily's left as Bellatrix, but he ignored her, sure that his gift would be enough to silence any objection of Bellatrix's.  
  
"What do you want, Potter?" Lily asked him impatiently.  
  
James smiled and wordlessly thrust his sloppy wad of newspaper towards her.  
  
Lily turned the strange package over in her hands and shot James an inquisitive look. "Is this a joke?"  
  
"No way, can't you see what this is? No need to thank me, I understand. I'm sure you appreaciate how much I do for you," James proclaimed grandiosely.  
  
Her fingers moving cautiously, under Bellatrix's smirk, Lily slowly removed the crumpled paper. The skeptical expression on her face turned into one of horror when the strange ball of hair and glue emerged.  
  
Lily let out a high pitched shreik and threw the package to the floor. "What is that thing? It looks like some kind of dead animal!"  
  
James looked at her in confusion. "No Lily, I made it for you, it's a wig, so you don't have to have that funny scarf on your head anymore," he said earnestly.  
  
It was not like James to be so honest, and Lily did not believe it for a second.   
  
"You are making fun of me?" she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. Lily's hand unconsciously patted her scarf. "I hate you!" she screamed, drawing her hand back and slapping him across the face.  
  
Bellatrix laughed out loud, and pulled Lily down in her seat.  
  
For once it was James who stood flabbergasted, his shock all too evident on his face. 


	8. Usurpers

Luckily, James was not able to dwell on his failure with Lily for too long. Later that very afternoon Sirius approached him cheerfully with good news.  
  
"You'll never guess what I just saw posted in the main hall!" Sirius called excitedly.  
  
"What?" James asked gloomily.  
  
"Quidditch updates. Gryffindor tryouts are tomorrow after lessons. We have a practice today. Just think James, before long we will both be the best two beaters this school has ever seen!" Sirius babbled happily.  
  
"Yeah," James grinned cockily, already over his wig problem. "And I'm sure Roderick Charles is going to be on the team too. What if he likes us? Maybe he'll put in a good word for us with the International Quidditch league!"  
  
"Do you still think he is playing for Guatemala?" Sirius mused aloud.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Classes passed extremely slow for James. The news about Quidditch tryouts prevented him from paying any attention to his teachers, whatsoever. The fact that his first class of the day happened to be History of Magic, with the boring old Professor Binns, made concentrating on his status as a future beater even more natural.  
  
Unlike the other teachers, Professor Binns did not even make an introduction to the second years. Instead he simply began talking.  
  
"Today we will be covering Goblin oppression in the 12th and 13th centuries," Binns intoned dryly. "Oppression of Goblins had begun long before this but the first solid records of such inequality for their race was not evident until the later periods…"  
  
James stopped paying attention at that point. He knew that Binns would not notice him if he began singing along with what the old man was saying. James pulled out a short piece of parchment and began sketching a crude drawing of two boys on broomsticks, hurling bludgers at another stick figure labeled Snivellus.  
  
After carefully folding the note into a paper airplane, and bewitching it to fly over to Sirius, who was sitting four seats away from James, he went back to pretending to listen to the lecture for a bit longer.  
  
When attempting to pay attention failed, James found another distraction… watching Lily. The fact that she had scorned his wig, his masterpiece, had James particularly irked. He had tried to apologize, but oh no, Lily could not accept it, she was too proud. The more James watched her, the angrier he got. Finally he resolved to seek revenge, ideas were already forming.  
  
Sirius returned the letter quickly and James was pleased to find that two more stick figures were shown on his same drawing, both being pelted by bludgers. One was labeled Lucius Malfoy, and the other Bellatrix Lestrange.  
  
It was as much as James could do to get through the rest of his classes in his impatience to begin practice. Unfortunately, James also happened to miss Professor Bin's announcement that next class an essay on examples of oppression would due on Friday, four feet of parchment total.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
James and Sirius were the first two people to arrive on the Quidditch field. Both boys had brought their brooms, as well as a case with two bludgers that James had gotten for Christmas of the previous year.  
  
The two boys were busily engaged in the old bludgers game which had got them in so much trouble over the summer. They had not been able to practice it at Lily's, so they were both psyched to have the option of knocking each other out of the air.  
  
The two Maruaders were so thoroughly caught up in the game that they failed to notice Roderick Charles entering the Quidditch field.  
  
James was the first to see him, a few minutes later. When he turned his head to look he was nearly knocked off of his broom by Sirius's bludger.  
  
Adeptly, James grasped his handle and swung himself back onto his broom in one swift motion. Ignoring Sirius, he swooped down to Roderick's height.  
  
"Are you playing Quidditch this year?" James blathered excitedly.  
  
Roderick grinned and nodded.  
  
Sirius had caught on and quickly abandoned the two wildly circling bludgers to join James and Roderick on the ground.  
  
"So, how was the Gryffindor team last year?" Roderick asked good naturedly.  
  
Sirius and James both began talking exuberantly at the same time. Roderick looked confused for a moment, but the scene was interrupted when a bludger came zooming down towards the trio.   
  
Before the two second years knew what was happening, Roderick leapt out in front of them and caught the bludger, wrestling it into the ground.  
  
James and Sirius both stood gaping stupidly until, Roderick called out "Get the case!"  
  
James retrieved it first and Roderick shoved it into the compartment and strapped it in, slamming the case shut before turning back to the two boys.  
  
"So, are you two beaters then?" Roderick asked.  
  
"Well.." James started.  
  
"Of course we are!" Sirius interrupted haughtily. "We are the best two beaters this school has ever seen. In fact, I bet we are the two best beaters in the history of this school; maybe even in the history of the sport!"  
  
Roderick raised an eyebrow and looked at Sirius, and then at James.  
  
  
  
"Er… right." James added, showing off his quick wit and mentally shunning Sirius for his outrageous claims. "I hear you are a pretty good keeper, yourself," James added quickly to take the focus away from himself.  
  
Roderick shrugged. "Aye, it's been said. This year I am playing for Britain. They lost a couple of players last year, so they bought us out. Oh, well, it's a change of pace I guess."  
  
James swallowed and looked somewhere off to the left, trying to fight back the memories that thoughts of the Britain Boggarts evoked.  
  
Indifferent to his friend's reaction, Sirius continued. "How do you think the team is going to be this year?"  
  
"Who, the Boggarts?" Roderick asked animatedly. "Well, it all depends on how we learn to work together. They have a brand new seeker, Frank Longbottom, he is supposed to be awesome. All around the team is already great. Last year they would have made the finals for sure if it wasn't for the death of last year's seeker."  
  
At this, Sirius's smile faded and he glanced at James.   
  
Looking away from the others, James hopped up on his broom and flew away without a word, hovering off in the distance. He watched from afar as Sirius made an explanation for James's behavior, and even from the sky James could see the surprised look on Roderick's face. James knew that he could not blame Roderick for John's death, but it had just caught him off guard.  
  
Roderick looked like he was about to hop on his broom and join James, but Sirius was shaking his head and pointing to several small figures approaching the green.   
  
After James felt he had effectively restrained himself from an emotional display, he soared downwards and greeted Professor Reclarus and several of the returning players, including the two third year beaters from last year, Tad Wolf and Hans Zukenhower. To Tad and Hans, James was sure to shoot a dirty look.  
  
Eagerly, Professor Reclarus shook Roderick's hand and insisted on clapping him repeatedly on the back saying, "Good to see you old chap, good to see you!"  
  
Roderick waited patiently until the Professor was done with his hand and the rest of the boys had said their pieces before jumping on his broom and circling impatiently. James and Sirius followed suit, waiting for the rest of the potential Quidditch players to arrive.  
  
The players continued to warm up until Professor Reclarus blew his whistle sharply and everyone flocked toward him.  
  
"Listen up everybody," Reclarus called. "Since last year's captain has appointed Chaser Louis Armand captain for the new year, it would normally be up to him to hold tryouts…"  
  
Louis Armand, a bulky sixth year stepped forward cockily. "As this year's Gryffindor Quidditch captain I am pleased to announce…"  
  
Reclarus pushed him aside. "I wasn't finished boy! As I was saying, Louis would normally be in charge of the team, but due to unusual circumstances," Reclarus motioned towards Roderick, "I am reassigning the role of captain to Keeper Roderick Charles. Roderick, we are all glad to have you on the team. You will be in charge of tryouts!"  
  
Clapping Roderick on the back cheerfully, the professor did not even give Louis a chance to speak before heading back to the castle.  
  
Louis looked indignant and downright angry at Roderick. The famous Quidditch player himself, looked shocked and a bit flustered. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. I really had no intention of taking the post away from you, Louis. I am afraid that if it is your wish, Louis, I will resign from the captain position, as it was not rightfully mine to begin with."  
  
"No!" Sirius shouted instantly, along with several others.  
  
Louis looked around sourly. He had never been the best player, but had inherited the title of captain by default, as there was truly no one on the team who could replace Frank Longbottom. "I don't mind… you can have it Roderick. I don't want to be captain when everybody obviously prefers you."  
  
Slightly stricken, Roderick continued. "Right then. So, Reclarus told me that this team is looking to fill three positions. One, the keeper, shall most likely be filled by me. Well, I guess if I am the captain I should probably have the spot, but no matter. We need a new chaser and a new seeker as well. You all will be on equal footing today. Louis and I are available, along with all of the other returning players, to teach you any skills you don't know or that you feel need perfecting."  
  
James and Sirius looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  
  
"Tryouts, as you all know, will be held tomorrow, same place and time. As the captain, I will be judging based on skill, technique and attitude. Tryouts for each position will be grouped by time, and you will be performing the necessary skills for that particular spot. Potential chasers will be placed on opposite teams and will try to score as many times as possible. Seekers will be tested on reflexes and agility by completing an obstacle course set up by me. If anyone wants to challenge my place as a keeper I would be more than happy to set that up. Any questions?"  
  
Sirius quickly asked his, "What about beater tryouts? What do we do for that."  
  
Roderick looked confused. "Well, actually, Reclarus told me that we already have two beaters on the team, so there will be no need for tryouts."  
  
"But they aren't any good. If we can challenge you for the keeper position, it is only fair that we can challenge the current beaters for their position!" Sirius argued.  
  
Tad and Hans both looked a bit nervous. "We earned our positions fairly!" Hans shouted indignantly.  
  
"Yes, well, that was before we were old enough to compete against you. This year is a new year, and isn't the team more important than the individual. We should have a chance to try out, at least, that is unless Hans and Tad are too chicken!" James taunted.  
  
Roderick shrugged, "Well, it seems they have a fair argument." He turned to Hans and Tad. "What do you say boys? Are you up for a little competition?"  
  
Hans glowered and Tad shuffled his feet.   
  
"Fine," Tad finally conceded miserably. Hans nodded in reluctant agreement.  
  
Running a hand through his messy hair, James grinned, clutching his broom tightly, "let the games begin!"  
  
Sirius laughed, "and may the best men win!"  
  
Hans stepped forward stupidly, his fists clenched in a menacing manner, but Roderick intervened.  
  
"Well, what are you all standing about for? To the skies!" The new captain called gleefully.   
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
James went to bed that night feeling very confident. Sirius and he had done much better than either of the two returning beaters, and James was sure that they both would get the spots they wanted. After the first day, he felt he possessed a good idea of who would be placed on the team. There was an outstanding chaser named Molly Ridgen and he was sure she would be a shoe in for that place. Roderick was already assured keeper and he and Sirius were beating the crap out of Tad and Hans. The only position that had no obvious person to fill it was seeker. There were four people out for this position, and all of them were wretched.  
  
  
  
It was not until the morning that James began to think of his other problem. Lily had snubbed him and made fun of his gift. James no longer felt he owed her anything, well anything besides revenge. He already had a good idea of how he could revenge himself upon her. However, he was waiting until after his tryout to tell the other Marauders about it.  
  
During breakfast James and Sirius boasted confidently to Peter and Remus about their prospects of making the Gryffindor team.   
  
"I could never do Quidditch, I am fine on the ground but I have no coordination in the air," Remus admitted.  
  
Peter grinned, "I am most horribly afraid of heights, Quidditch is not my thing."  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Obviously."  
  
Peter looked embarrassed but James cut in, tactfully changing the subject. "So anyways… you know how Lily shunned my gift, well I have an idea to put her in her place…"  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Classes had seemed to take an eternity for both James and Sirius, although neither claimed to be nervous. They arrived at the pitch early, as usual, and were forced to wait through chaser and seeker tryouts before they were announced.  
  
"I thought," Roderick spoke with authority, "since the beater positions are technically already filled, we will conduct this tryout a bit differently. We are going to try a little drill that is quite common among the professionals, though it is a bit dangerous. I am sure that two clear winners will emerge."  
  
The game was actually very similar to the one patented by James and Sirius. Except that in this one, there was only one bludger, and four people. The first to miss a hit or to fall off their broom lost. The two remaining on broom won the position.  
  
Tad started with the bludger and beat it first at Sirius, who dodged the heavy object easily before hitting it back towards Tad with a vengeance. Tad slipped and fell straight downwards at an alarming pace. Lazily, Roderick flicked his wand and Tad landed gently on the grass.  
  
Hans got a wild look in his eyes and began to circle wildly. James retrieved the bludger and sent it towards him hard. Hans managed to hit it away from himself, although the bludger simply careened off into the air in a random direction. James quickly intercepted it. Within a few minutes Hans had lost his balance on his broom as well and was disqualified.  
  
That was how James and Sirius usurped the positions of Gryffindor beaters. 


	9. First Dates and Wake Up Calls

On one chilly afternoon James finally got to fulfill his study date dreams with Marci Alouise. The two met out on the Quidditch pitch after James had finished with his very first official practice as a beater. Marci had not brought a single book, but only a checkered blanket and a basket filled with who knows what.  
  
Gingerly, the small blond first year spread the blanket over the damp grass and sat down cross legged, beckoning James to join her.  
  
With his shoulders thrown back in what he presumed was a masculine pose, James strutted forward. He opened his mouth to make a witty comment, but unfortunately for his ego, he tripped over the edge of the blanket and went sprawling.  
  
This evoked even more giggling from the tiny blond.   
  
Retaining whatever dignity he could manage, James quickly threw himself into a casual seated position, as if he had taken a dive willfully just to obtain maximum comfort.  
  
"So," James spoke coolly, "let the study date begin."  
  
"Well, I wasn't really sure what to bring… but I thought I would teach you a reviving charm my grandmother taught me as a little girl. That is why I brought this basket," Marci began.  
  
James peered anxiously through the opening of the basket as Marci reached in a slim arm and withdrew a pink vase filled with several dried red roses.  
  
  
  
"They look dead," James commented astutely.  
  
"Yes, well, they are not dead, only almost. This spell can not give life to dead things, but can help small flowers bloom, or sick animals thrive. Potentially, it could give strength to humans too, but I do not think there is a wizard or witch alive who is powerful enough to do that."  
  
Marci carefully fingered her wand and with a flick chimed "Encontre Vitalis!".  
  
The withered red petals began to straighten and then curve. The deep burgundy color turned to a blood red hue and little beads of moisture began to appear on the soft surface of the rose.  
  
James raised an eyebrow. "Impressive."  
  
"Do you want to try?" she asked with a sweet smile.  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
Marci pulled yet another rose out of the basket, carefully avoiding the thorns, and placed it gently in James' hand.  
  
Lacking any sense of timing or sensitivity, James snatched the rose and with much wand waving fervor shouted the charm. This time, the rose not only bloomed, but seemed to double in size, as if it were bursting from the inside. Even the petals seemed thicker.  
  
Marci gasped. "You do it even better than I! That rose is beautiful!"  
  
Taking his cue, James thrust the rose forward. "For you, my lady," he proclaimed dramatically.  
  
Marci was so pleased that tears came to the corners of her eyes. She nearly forgot that it was she who had provided the floral material in the first place.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
So preoccupied were James and Sirius, with Quidditch practices and thoughts of females, that both boys completely forgot about their Goblin oppression scrolls for Professor Binns.  
  
As a result, the following History of Magic class was a bit tense. After lecturing for over an hours, Binns hobbled from desk to desk, demanding the parchment they had supposedly completed.  
  
Binns reached Sirius first.  
  
"Where is your parchment Mr. Black?" Binns asked blandly.  
  
Sirius looked up at Binns for a moment, with the look of a cornered animal. Then he burst into very dramatic and very fake tears.  
  
"Oh, don't you know, I can tell what you are about. You are only harassing me because my great great grandfather was a Goblin!" Sirius wailed.  
  
Binns looked nonplussed. "Your scroll, Mr. Black. I need your essay on Goblin oppression."  
  
At this point, Sirius leapt on top of his desk, not for the first time, and proceeded to yell to the class.  
  
"Help! Help! I am being oppressed!" Sirius called wildly.   
  
As usual, James could not resist joining in.  
  
"What do we want?" James cried loudly.  
  
"Freedom!" Sirius answered vehemently.  
  
"When do we want it?" James continued.  
  
"Now!" finished Sirius.  
  
Before long the majority of the class was absorbed in the chant. James noticed that Lily was one of the only ones abstaining. The red head was sitting facing the blackboard with her arms folded tightly across her chest and an irritated expression on her face.  
  
In the end, Binns went with the old standby to restore order. He assigned James, Sirius, Remus and Peter detentions, although Remus and Peter had only been guilty of chanting along with the rest of the class. Still, the fact that they were Marauders seemed enough to warrant punishment.  
  
The task was not a very unpleasant one. They boys were forced to spend the night completely cleaning the Gryffindor common room, without magic. There were a lot of filthy corners to scrub, but it was nothing compared to the dungeons, which James had been compelled to clean with Lily the year before.  
  
The four Marauders were finished around two AM. Remus was in favor of going straight to bed, but the others were still full of energy, even Peter.  
  
"I say we give the girls a little wake up call. I know exactly where the second year girls dorm is, I see Lily going there all the time," Peter blathered.  
  
"Good idea mate," James commended him. "The only thing is… we ought to do the thing properly. Sirius, hand me that bucket of dirty water."  
  
Sirius laughed and peered into the bucket, making a face. "This stuff is perfect. There are heaps of mold in here."  
  
"And spiders," Remus chimed in.  
  
Bucket in hand, James led the way towards the staircase leading up to the girls dorm. The others followed happily. About five steps up, the stairs suddenly collapsed and James and friends found themselves in a pile at the bottom, covered in the slimy contents of the bucket.  
  
The resulting cursing and yelling was enough to send several sleepy looking students out into the hall to laugh and wonder at the fate of the four Marauders. Among them was Marci, who took the opportunity to giggle and blush. James blushed even harder, humiliated that Marci had seen him in such a hopeless position.  
  
"Why do you suppose the stairs did that?" James wondered aloud.  
  
"Oh I forgot about that. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History. The stairs to the girls dormitories are enchanted so as to keep untrustworthy boys away," Remus informed.  
  
"Untrustworthy? Pstah! We are getting in one way or another," insisted Sirius boldly.  
  
In the end, the mishap cost them an extra hour cleaning up, but James and Sirius were determined to finish what they had started. The girls deserved a wake up call, and a wake up call they were going to get.  
  
As none of the Marauders were in possession of any wands, they had a challenge ahead of them. They spent a while trying to get up the stairs at a run, but after numerous failed attempts, the boys were forced to change their strategy.   
  
It was Remus who finally had a stroke of brilliance and darted off, emerging a few minutes later with a thick coil of rope.  
  
"It was in the storage closet with the cleaning supplies. I thought I saw some rope earlier, and I suppose this will make things a great deal easier.  
  
The rope, while valuable in theory, was a hard thing to use effectively.   
  
First James tied one end of the rope in a lasso fashion, and attempted to toss it over a jut in the top of the banister. All of the Marauders had tried it a few times before Sirius finally got the loop secured. The next challenge proved even more difficult. Somehow, all four boys had to climb up the rope and over the banister. Both James and Sirius had an easy time scaling the wall, and Remus got up without too much difficulty. However, Peter couldn't seem to climb more than a foot before loosing his grip and sliding back down the rope.  
  
"My hands are burning something terrible! This rope is an awful idea, it was pure luck that you three got up," Peter complained miserably.  
  
"Let's just leave him, he is obviously not going to make it up in one piece," Sirius sneered. "Besides, we wouldn't want the rope to burn your hands Pete!"  
  
Peter's face turned bright red. James could not tell if the clumsy boy was embarrassed or just angry, but he didn't really want to find out.  
  
"Come on Sirius. We are Marauders. All for one and one for all," James interjected. "Grab on to the rope, Peter, and the three of us will hoist you up. Only be careful not to let go this time or your backside will be awfully sore tomorrow."  
  
It took the strenuous efforts of Remus, Sirius and James to get Peter high enough for him to scramble over. All four boys were panting and sweating by the time he reached the top of the stairwell.  
  
"We did it!" Sirius cried. "Now, to the dormitory!"  
  
"Wait," James sighed, "we forgot the bucket.  
  
Remus pulled a few threads off of his worn hat and declared that whom-so-ever pulled the shortest thread from his fist would have to go down and get it. Peter lost, but it was Remus who ended up actually making the trek down. Deftly, he tied the end of the rope around the bucket and Sirius hoisted it up smoothly, lowering the rope so Remus could rejoin them at the top.  
  
The debate raged for several minutes over which dormitory to hit. Sirius was in favor of the first years, hoping to humiliate Bellatrix, but James vetoed the idea, not wanting Marci to get caught in the turmoil. Finally James and Sirius settled on the second year girls, mostly for the sake of hitting an old target, Lily. James did have a grudge against her, she had bruised his ego by failing to accept his hairy peace offering.  
  
Slyly, Sirius cracked open the door and the boys slid inside silently.  
  
James silently tried to determine which bed was Lily's. He crept from bed to bed, peering through the heavy drapery at each sleeping form. Sirius was in favor of going straight for Brittany, whose bed was by the door, but James insisted on holding out for a certain redhead.  
  
After several tries, James threw open the curtains of the desired bed, revealing a familiar form. He paused for a minute, taking in the redhead's appearance. She did not have her scarf on for once, and her choppy hair was in terrible disarray. Lily's creamy white skin was marred by one glaring imperfection, in the form of a massive bruise that James recognized at Nymphadora's handiwork. Her dark red bedspread was drawn down, revealing one slender shoulder covered in a simple blue nightgown.  
  
James stared dreamily at her for a moment more before he was pulled rapidly from his repose. Sirius, frustrated by his friend's lack of action, had taken it upon himself to toss the bucket of filth on the sleeping girl.  
  
Lily woke with a scream and a wild kick, twisting her soaked comforter and sliding out of bed on to the floor.  
  
"Wake up call!" Sirius called cheerfully.  
  
The red head gasped and continued to struggle to free herself from the oppressively heavy blanket. She coughed and sputtered and finally managed to stand, her wild hair dripping with glorious rays of filth and venom. Taking a moment to comprehend what had just occurred, Lily stared at the filth covering her body. Also in her immediate sight, unfortunately for him, was James. The be-speckled young wizard was covered in grime, almost as badly as she was, although James's was dry.  
  
With a wild war cry, Lily leapt on top of James, her emotions beyond words, and began a wild campaign of fists, claws and kicks that ended only when Remus attempted to pull her from him. When she was finally removed from James's haggard person, Lily was still spitting and hissing, literally reduced to an animal like creature with rage. James was bleeding from the nose.  
  
By this time, the other girls in the dorm had emerged from their domed beds and were watching the spectacle with various degrees of shock, horror and amusement.  
  
When Jackie saw that some of the sludge had sloshed onto her trunk of robes, she ran screaming from the room.  
  
By this time, all of the anger in Lily had drained out, and she simply collapsed to the floor, crying. Dora and Brittany quickly joined her supportively, their loyalty extending to the point of being willing to come into contact with the slime covering their intemperate friend.  
  
James winced once more at the tears and was overcome with a sort of reluctant remorse. "Lily, lighten up… it was just a joke."  
  
Sirius laughed even harder, but James attempted to pat Lily awkwardly on the shoulder with one hand, while nursing his bloody nose with the other hand. The red head quickly slapped his hand away.  
  
"Leave her alone, you jerk!" Brittany cried.  
  
Just then, Jackie returned, toting a sleepy looking Professor Lacy.  
  
One look at the chaos inside the dormitory and Lacy's eyes widened dangerous and all of the tiredness was gone from them.  
  
"What is going on in here? Boys in the girl's dormitory, a mess everywhere, and all the shouting! I would like an explanation!" the professor demanded.  
  
A few minutes later, Lily was left to shower, while her roommates cleaned up the mess.   
  
The Marauders did not get off so easily. James found his nosebleed neglected, as the four guilty wizards were escorted by a livid Professor Lacy to Dumbledore's office to await their fate.  
  
"I never expected this sort of behavior from you four! Certainly you are troublemakers, but this is beyond anything I have ever seen with a Gryffindor. I am ashamed of you! It will be a wonder if you are not all expelled!" the normally patient Professor exclaimed fervently.  
  
Peter started to cry and Sirius kicked him contemptuously. "Stop being a baby," Sirius demanded.  
  
James was too busy trying to hold back the torrent of blood escaping from his nose to defend Peter, and Remus looked as if his world had just crashed down around him. Expelled. The word, once spoken, reverberated in all their heads painfully, adding to the tension.  
  
Finally, they reached a statue that James knew led to Dumbledore's office.   
  
"Licorice Whips," Lacy hissed impatiently, practically shoveling the four boys into the openings.   
  
She left them in the waiting room while she spoke to the Headmaster. James recognized Fawkes the phoenix whom he had met on a previous exploit inside Dumbledore's office. He tried to distract himself by gazing at all of the amusing oddities in the room, but James' mind kept drifting back to the same disquieting thought. He could not help but think about how disappointed John would have been if he had known that James would never graduate from Hogwarts. By the time that Dumbledore and Lacy emerged, James had thoroughly convinced himself of his impending expulsion. 


	10. Doubts and Nerves

**Living In Legend**

**Book 2- The Price of Glory **

**Chapter 12- Doubts and Nerves**

* * *

Lily had not really enjoyed her time spent with Oliver, but when she returned to school, she found herself so miffed with Jackie, that she pretended like she had been very impressed with him.  
  
Brittany and Dora were happy that Lily finally had found a boy she liked, but they were also a little worried. Jackie's comments had not gone unnoticed by them. Still, Brittany and Dora were still favorably disposed towards Bellatrix.  
  
Bellatrix was the only one who Lily told the truth about her date.  
  
"It really was not very romantic," she admitted once when alone with the dark haired first year.  
  
Bellatrix rolled her heavily lidded eyes. "You just don't understand him. He is too mature for you. Trust me, you are not going to do any better!"  
  
With Bellatrix's assurance, Lily decided to give Oliver another chance. Bellatrix arranged for the two of them to eat breakfast together one morning.  
  
Lily met him at the Ravenclaw table, as she did not want to sit with the Slytherins and he did not want to sit with the Gryffindors. Bellatrix joined them, seating herself next to Oliver.  
  
The second she sat down, he held turned to her and began to recite, "Lily, you are beautiful and I think that I am in love with you. Will you be my girlfriend?"  
  
Lily was too stunned with this proclamation to pay much attention to the mechanical way that he delivered this speech, as if it had been memorized before hand and practiced many times.  
  
"Well, I don't know… I guess so," Lily stammered, taken aback.  
  
His declaration of love had been incredibly unexpected. If Lily had possessed any intention of saying no, she did not stand a chance after that.  
  
Oliver sighed. "Good. Now we will eat every dinner together and I will walk you to your classes."  
  
Bellatrix beamed at Lily, looking pleased.  
  
"Bellatrix said that I should…" Oliver continued, rambling on stupidly.  
  
Suddenly Bellatrix's amiable smile disappeared and she elbowed Oliver hard in the ribs.  
  
"Ooof," he grunted, recovering slowly. "What did you do that for?"  
  
Batting her eyelashes Bellatrix looked the picture of innocence. "It was an accident," she crooned.  
  
Lily decided that the whole ordeal was indeed very strange. But then again, what did she know about love? Maybe, she thought, it was just one of those things that she had to ignore.

* * *

To the dismay of the other Marauders, James had been willing to overlook Malfoy and Terrance's frequent insults. Not even Severus Snape, aka Snivellus had been enough for them to redirect the course of their next prank. James had his heart set on Oliver Crabbe.  
  
"Don't you hate him Sirius?" James coaxed. "Remember what jerks his parents were at my family reunion?"  
  
"Yes, I hate him, but I hate Bellatrix more. I say we go for Bellatrix!" Sirius retorted.  
  
"We can get them both, perhaps," James pondered.  
  
Remus shook his head. "Look at the two of you. You are getting distracted from our real goal. You can't tell me that the two of you hate those two more than Lucius and Terrance! Bellatrix and Oliver have done nothing to us, Lucius and Terrance are asking for it right now. They sabotaged Peter's potion yesterday!"  
  
"Peter's potions are bad enough without sabotage," Sirius laughed.  
  
"Hey!" Peter shouted indignantly.  
  
"That is not the point!" James continued. "We want to target the most foul people we know. Oliver and Bellatrix are clearly those people. Just look what they are doing to Lily! They are using her, I am not sure what for but I do not like it one bit."  
  
Peter sighed. "James is right. You are so smart, James, you always know what is best."  
  
Sirius shot Peter a ridiculing glare but James only smiled cockily. His ego craved the attention that Peter so willingly bestowed upon him. He was practically a God to the chubby Marauder.  
  
"Listen guys," James started, "this is what we do…"

* * *

As there was not a Hogsmeade weekend scheduled for several months, Lily had expected that she and Oliver would pursue a relationship only at mealtimes. That delusion was shattered when he approached her one day before her Potions class.  
  
"Hello Lily," Oliver greeted her dully.  
  
"So you will be going with me to the Halloween Ball then?" he asked, before she even had a chance to reply with a hello.  
  
"Oh," Lily gasped, "well I thought that the ball was only for fourth years and above!"  
  
"I am a fifth year." Oliver said defensively.  
  
"Well, I know… but…"  
  
"You had better get some dress robes," he added, walking away.  
  
James, who had been listening from behind her felt his face flush with some sort of anger. He wasn't sure what it was about the hulking older Slytherin that made him so furious, but he couldn't help the rage that came over him when he saw her with Lily. James thought that perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Oliver was a friend of the hated Bellatrix.  
  
Then again, Lily was friends with Bellatrix, and James did not exactly loathe her, although he loved to pull pranks on her.  
  
For the moment, James was content to glare threateningly at Oliver as he walked away.  
  
After Oliver had left his sight, and Sirius had practically dragged James pulled Sirius aside.  
  
"Change of plans, mate. Did you hear that stupid bloke? He's taking Lily to the Halloween Ball. I say we pull something then!" James said with a grin.  
  
Sirius looked offended. "But we already planned…"  
  
"Hey, that one can be transferred. I say we do that to Snivellus instead," James said merrily.  
  
Sirius let out a laugh. "I can't wait to see old Snivellus's face! It's a deal."  
  
While James informed Remus and Peter about the change of plans, the boys set out to put their plan against Snape into action.

* * *

The prank went perfectly. They pulled it off during a very dull potions class.  
  
Severus Snape had been thoroughly immersed in creating his potion when a fountain of milk had suddenly erupted from his nose.  
  
Everyone, including Lucius and Terrance had laughed at the oily-haired boy's misfortune. At the same time, no one doubted who the culprits had been. The four Marauders were sentenced to yet another tedious detention labeling potions ingredients with Ludwick.  
  
For once, the boys were actually excited about the punishment, it would give them the perfect opportunity to prepare for their big prank on Oliver Crabbe.  
  
Still, detention was always a pain, with the frequent Quidditch practices. The first game of the season was approaching and Roderick insisted that the Gryffindor team was not ready.  
  
"I expect a win!" Roderick has announced. "Anything less than a win is unacceptable."  
  
James and Sirius both went out of their way to prove how non-nervous they were, but both boys were a bit apprehensive about their first match. They spent as much time on broomstick as was possible, returning to the common room only after they had exhausted themselves thoroughly. Detentions only added another obstacle on the path to sleep.  
  
On the night before the game was to take place, James could not sleep. He thought about taking a walk to clear his head, but did not want the others in his room to realize that he was nervous, so he contented himself by counting the lines on the ceiling.  
  
He immersed himself in this exercise so completely that when Sirius threw open the curtains to his bed at four AM he was shocked that the time had passed so quickly.  
  
"Time to make your brother proud, mate," Sirius called cheerfully.  
  
James smiled painfully, hoping earnestly that he would.  
  
It was dark when they arrived on the pitch. All of the Gryffindors stood solemnly under the light of the stars, awaiting instructions from their captain.  
  
Finally Roderick spoke. "The time is nearly here. We will use this morning to practice. Then you should go have breakfast. The game begins at noon, so we all need to be in the locker rooms by eleven. This is our last chance to fly before the game begins so use your time well."  
  
The sense of utter exhaustion did not hit James until their third scrimmage. By the time they were released for breakfast, he felt ready to go to sleep, his previous night's insomnia vanished.  
  
"I did not sleep at all last night," James admitted to Sirius sadly.  
  
Sirius laughed, "Neither did I. Did you know that there are exactly 4578 lines on the ceiling above my bed? I could see through the opening of the canopy."  
  
"There were 4579 on mine," James bragged sleepily.  
  
"Still think you will make your brother proud?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Unless I fall off my broom," James laughed. 


End file.
